Decommissioning Meeting with South Korean Delegation

With the help of two highly skilled translators, a South Korean public policy delegation met with Fairewinds’ Crew in September to ask questions and discuss decommissioning issues in the United States.  The public panel, consisting of nuclear fuel researchers, labor union leaders, university professors, and NGO representatives, traveled from Seoul to Burlington, Vermont to visit Fairewinds Energy Education for a 5-hour, in depth briefing on the current state of decommissioning in the United States and in Vermont. 

Yu Na Song, Delegation leader and Research Fellow for the Public Policy Institute for People

With the help of translator, YoChan Kim, Fairewinds' Arnie Gundersen explains the decommissioning issues facing New Englanders concerning the shutdown nuclear power plant Vermont Yankee.

Some topics discussed included the shutdown of Vermont Yankee, the meaning and history of Vermont’s ACT 160 legislation, and the implications of decommissioning a nuclear reactor run by an LLC (Limited Liability Corporation), as well as public policy issues with the US NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission). Following their meeting with the Fairewinds Crew, the S. Korean delegation proceeded to Montpelier, Vermont to meet with Vermont's Public Service Department Commissioner Chris Recchia and State Senator Diane Snelling, followed by a meeting with Executive Director for Citizens Awareness Network Deb Katz in Brattleboro. The delegation's fast paced, week long tour of decommissioning hot spots throughout New England also included a meeting with Vermont Yankee utility owner Entergy Corp. during a guided visit of the controversial, aging, New York nuclear power plant at Indian Point.

Here are a few of the questions the delegation posed to the Fairewinds Crew, followed by their subsequent answers:

Q 1. -   What is the meaning of and history behind the state legislation of ACT 160 in 2006?  What is the current status and effectiveness of ACT 160 after the lawsuit with Entergy?

A.     Mrs. and Mr. Gundersen assisted in writing Act 160, which was designed to determine if Vermont Yankee (VY) was reliable enough to operate for 20 more years until it is 60-years-old.  In 2009, the Governor and State Legislature appointed a panel of experts, named the Vermont Yankee Public Oversight Panel (VY POP), to review operations at Vermont Yankee to assure that mechanically it could operate reliably for 20 more years.  The VY POP panel, including Mr. Gundersen, originally determined that Vermont Yankee could operate reliably if it implemented 80 changes identified by the Panel. 

During the summer of 2009, Mr. Gundersen, in his role as a consultant to the Vermont State Legislature, determined that the management of Vermont Yankee had not been truthful to the Panel in some of the data that was submitted for review.  The misstatements, made under oath by Entergy officers lead to the Vermont State Senate to vote, under Act 160, not to allow Vermont Yankee to operate beyond its original 40-year-license.  Entergy then sued Vermont, claiming that only the NRC had the right to regulate nuclear safety.  Entergy won in both Federal Court, and the Federal Appeals Court. 

Q 2. - Vermont Yankee has supplied 38% of its electrical power to the State of Vermont. After the decision of its decommissioning, how is the situation of the electrical power supply?

A.       Electric prices in Vermont have dropped since the Vermont Yankee shutdown, and had been dropping for several years prior to its shutdown.  At the end of its original 40-year life, Entergy proposed a new contract for electricity to the State of Vermont, which was to provide 10% of Vermont’s power at 6.2 cents/kwh.  All the utilities in Vermont determined that they could buy less expensive power from other sources, and bought 10% of Vermont’s Power from the Seabrook Nuclear Station at only 4.9 cents/kwh.

Q 3. - We have anticipated that there is an investment entity managing the cost of decommissioning. What is their role? Will that company last for the next 60 years? Who will manage or audit the company to make sure their financial situation stays in healthy condition?

A.       Vermont ratepayers paid more than $300M USD into the Vermont Yankee Trust Fund between 1980 and 2002 in order to have the funds to decommission Vermont Yankee.  This Trust Fund was given to Entergy when it purchased Vermont Yankee in 2002 from the consortium of Vermont electric utilities that designed and built the plant.  The utilities had always contributed to the decommissioning trust fund via ratepayer assessment, but Entergy, which was selling much of VY power out of state, did not continue contributing to the VY Decommissioning Trust Fund.

Entergy used three NRC approved investment banks to grow the Trust Fund, at approximately 5.5% per year until it reached $650M at the beginning of 2015.  Since Vermont Yankee is a Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), neither the NRC nor the State of Vermont appears to have any legal jurisdiction over how the funds are spent and currently there is no method for auditing how the funds in trust are spent.

Q 4. - There was a time when people in Vermont debated for decommissioning Vermont Yankee. How have peoples’ opinions about the nuclear power plant changed after the decision for decommissioning? Is there any impact on the local economy and atmosphere?

A.       After the shutdown, electricity costs in Vermont continue to be lower than they would have been if Vermonters were paying for overpriced electricity from Vermont Yankee.

After the shutdown, there is still plenty of electricity in Vermont, and there have been no blackouts or brownouts.

Vermonters who live in the town of Vernon, where Vermont Yankee is located, wish the plant were still operating because it provided high paying jobs due to Vermont Yankee's high electricity production costs that were more expensive than other electric sources.  Now, electric rates are lower statewide with Vermont Yankee’s shutdown, and those funds that had been paying high salaries at Vermont Yankee are now being used to make Vermont more competitive economically. So overall, Vermont has more economically competitive electric rates now that Vermont Yankee is shutdown.

Q 5. - About 630 employees worked in Vermont Yankee and the number is now reduced by half. How have these workers adapted to their new life style? And, what is their employment status? 

A.       Some of the workers were nearing retirement and have retired.  The younger staff has been moved to other Entergy nuclear plants throughout the United States.  Some staff still remain on site working and will for the foreseeable future.  Some have started new, different businesses.  Very few remain unemployed.

Q 6. - We have heard of the intermediate treatment facility in Texas. What is the underlying meaning of a spent fuel management program with respect to the state of Vermont, watch groups, and experts?

A.       Vermont and Texas have a legal contract called a Radioactive Waste Storage Compact in which Vermont will ship its so-called low-level waste from Vermont Yankee’s decommissioning to Texas for disposal.  No high-level nuclear fuel will be shipped to Texas.  The high level nuclear fuel will be transferred to dry cask storage by 2020 and stored at Vermont Yankee site until either there is a United States Government permanent waste repository at which to abandon waste.