WE CAN CHOOSE TRULY CLEAN ENERGY AND REPLACE VERMONT YANKEE IN 2012!

Vermont Yankee's license to operate expires in 2012. We can plan our future now! We can replace this dirty plant with clean, sustainable energy that can bring independence and jobs to our community, while at the same time protecting our environment. Instead of a legacy of toxic nuclear waste on the banks of the Connecticut River, We can replace Vermont Yankee, end our dependence on nuclear power and choose a clean, sustainable future for our children.

We have a right to make sustainable energy choices. Entergy, present owner of Vermont Yankee, does not have our best interests in mind. Rather, this foreign corporation is solely focused on its profits. We have a right to community control and to choose safe, clean energy that provides jobs.

The Vermont legislature will decide our energy future in the 2010 session. Contact your legislators and let them know that nuclear power is neither clean nor green and that you want a strong renewable energy portfolio for Vermont.

Security Risk
Vermont Yankee is an aging reactor with a fuel pool located 70 feet in the air. A National Academy of Sciences report found that reactor fuel pools are terrorist targets and that an attack on a reactor like Vermont Yankee could release plumes of radiation that would travel over 100 miles! Mark 1 reactors like Vermont Yankee are the most vulnerable. Entergy is moving its high level waste into dry cask storage-over 50 million curies- which is also vulnerable. In fact Entergy bought up surrounding houses to increase its fenceline because of higher levels of radiation at the fence due to the creation of dry cask storage site. This moving of the fenceline lowers the fenceline dose but moves the fence closer to the elementary school across the street!

Enexus: A BAD Deal
Entergy power purchase agreement for any sale of future power to the state utilities includes the requirement that Vermont approve the creation of Enexus, a limited liability corporation, that would become the owner of Vermont Yankee and 6 other aging reactors and 1 decommissioned reactor in the Northeast and Midwest. This corporation would begin with over a $4.5 billion debt and only $750 million to cover repairs and accidents at any and all of its 6 nuclear sites.  This is a bad deal for Vermonters. All Enexus does is further shield its parent corporation from liability from decommissioning shortfalls as well as accidents and costly repairs.

Power Uprate - Their Profit, Our Risk
Vermont Yankee received a power increase of 20% to increase profitability for Entergy. Since Vermont Yankee can not increase the size of its reactor vessel, it's running the reactor with hotter fuel. This hotter fuel will then be stored in the fuel pool after it is used in the reactor. 34% more deadly waste will be released in plumes in the event of a terrorist attack or accident! We can't ransom our children's future to a dirty, dangerous technology.

Decommissioning Short Fall: Who Will Pay?
For two consecutive Vermont legislative sessions both houses passed legislation to required a fully funded decommissioning fund by 2012. Governor Douglas vetoed this legislation  each time. There is not enough monies in the fund to pay for decommissioning. With a little over $400 million and an estimate of over $1 billion, who will be stuck footing the bill? It should not be either ratepayers or taxpayers. With the recent discovery of a significant plume of Tritium migrating through the ground water, the estimates for cleanup could sky rocket.

Sustainable Energy Future - We Can Do Better!
Remember: The Cleanest Energy Is the Energy You Never Use. Energy efficiency and conservation are the best and longest-lasting way to bring down your energy bills. A Vermont Department of Public Service 2005 study of efficiency found that 250 MW of power could be saved by 2015 through efficiency; Vermont Yankee only supplies the state with 270 MW of power and according to the new power offer, Entergy wants to sell the state only 170 MW.

1. Efficiency is essential for a clean energy future. U.S. Office of Technology estimated that the U.S. could reduce its electricity use 20-45% through efficiency, including improvements in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, more efficient refrigerators and other appliances, lighting systems, and increased building insulation. A 2005 DPS report found that 250 MW could be reduced by 2015 through efficiency! Vermont Yankee only provides 270 MW to Vermont.
2. Renewables Produce Virtually No Greenhouse Gases and Can Effectively Address Climate Change. Renewable technologies can address climate change more quickly and economically than nuclear power, and without creating more toxic waste. According to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the entire U.S. electricity demand could be met by renewable energy resources by 2020. The combination of wind, solar, advanced hydro, and biomass and geothermal energy could completely meet U.S. electricity needs.
3. Wind Energy Could Generate Enough Energy To Power the World! Stanford University concluded that wind at specific locations could generate more than enough energy to meet world demands. U.S. Pacific Northwest Laboratory evaluating wind potential (Department of Energy) estimated that land-based wind across the US is capable of producing almost 1.5 times current U.S. annual electricity use.
4. Solar Energy Potential Is Enormous! Every hour more energy strikes the surface of the Earth than is consumed globally in a year. Recent developments in solar technology now produce cheap, flexible thin film panels capable of over 15% efficiency on a significant scale.

On a global level sustainable energy choices like wind, solar, and small hydro are already out-pacing nuclear power in energy production. These already proven technologies will provide new jobs, new investment, and clean energy choices at a local level for Vermonters.

Nuclear Power Is No Answer To Climate Change
Too Much Pollution in the Nuclear Fuel Cycle: The Many steps required to make uranium suitable for nuclear reactor use -- mining, milling, conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication -- all involve the use of fossil fuels as well as poisoning communities with radioactive and chemical pollution.  Although reactors themselves release few greenhouse gases, the nuclear fuel cycle is a significant contributor. In 2001, U.S. Enrichment Corporation, which enriches uranium for reactor fuel, released 93% of all U.S. emissions of a potent greenhouse gas, CFC-114. Enrichment facilities are so energy intensive that some of the nation's dirty, old coal plants exist just to power the nuclear fuel facilities.

Long Term On Site Cool Down = Job Security
Entergy should commit to a long term cool down. During this time, the skilled workforce could be employed in a thorough clean-up of the site - one that we could all be proud of. The NRC permits decommissioning to take as long as 60 years. That ensures the retention of the present workforce in removal of the contaminated reactor, clean up of the ground water, and monitoring of the high level waste. It would enable the amassing of funds necessary to do a good job. Yankee Rowe, one of the smallest commercial reactors in the country, cost $39 million to build and over $750 million to clean up!