Vermont Yankee, Farewell (Sort of)

New World Notes #290 (September 24, 2013):

Broadcast quality MP3 (39 MB)
Decent quality MP3 (13 MB)

Entergy Corporation's Vermont Yankee
Nuclear Power Station (2004)

In brief:

The good news: New England's most decrepit nuclear power plant--Vermont Yankee--is ceasing operations after more than four decades.   

The bad news: All its deadly radioactive material will just sit there untouched, on the banks of the Connecticut River, for the next 60 years. 

The really odd news: For many years the public has tried and failed to shut this plant down.  For three years, the Vermont legislature has tried and failed to shut this plant down. But the owner, Entergy Corporation, defeated every attempt to close its little New England moneymaker.  Then in August 2013, Entergy Corp. itself decided to shut to shut the plant down.  Just another business decision.

Moral: The public be damned, but business is business!

We'll hear details on the closing and then selections from Dr. Helen Caldicott's memorable 2009 speech--in Brattleboro, Vermont--on why the people have to shut Vermont Yankee down (and all its brethren as well).

 Vermont Yankee, 2007 (cooling tower collapse)

 Vermont Yankee, 2004 (overly warm transformer)