MONTPELIER, Vt. — Four states, including Vermont, have taken their fight to gain more of a voice in the decommissioning of nuclear power plants within their borders back to federal regulators.
Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan has joined with his counterparts in New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut in opposing proposed rules pending before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, saying the states deserve and need more of a voice in the decommissioning. The key areas of concern are public health and safety, finances, economic issues and the environment.
“The NRC rules could affect how Vermont Yankee is cleaned up, but we wanted to make sure that Vermont is heard,” Donovan said in a statement, noting Vermont wanted a “meaningful voice” in the rulemaking process.
Kyle Landis-Marinello, an assistant attorney general in the environmental division, said the four states shared the same concerns and decided to file objections to the NRC’s proposed rules governing decommissioning.
“We’ve worked with New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut on a number of nuclear matters,” he said, noting the four states “have a lot of overlapping interests.”
He said New Jersey and New Hampshire had joined Vermont on nuclear issues in the past.
Also sending critical comments to the NRC were Vermont state agencies, including the Department of Health, the Agency of Natural Resources and the Department of Public Service.
Currently, the NRC has limited regulations governing the decommissioning of nuclear power plants and has been handling issues through the license-amendment process.
Entergy Nuclear spokesman Joseph Lynch said the NRC decommissioning rules would be enacted after the Yankee clean up begins.
“Entergy is reviewing the states’ comments on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s proposed decommissioning rulemaking,” he said. “Entergy has no comment on the filing at this time.”
Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the NRC, said the proposed rules would largely be finished after the decommissioning process is slated to begin in Vermont.
“Our rulemaking in the area of decommissioning will be completed in 2019,” he said in an email. “By then, Vermont Yankee will have addressed many of the license changes it needs with respect to decommissioning, including exemptions granted for such areas as emergency planning, the development of a certified fuel handler qualification process.” Sheehan added, “There could still be some regulation changes that impact Vermont Yankee, but they won’t be nearly as great as for plants shutting down in 2019 and beyond.”
Earlier in the week, Vermont also petitioned the Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, the appeals arm of the NRC, and asked for a hearing on the state’s concerns about the pending sale of Vermont Yankee to a New York City industrial demolition company, NorthStar Group Services.
The state said it had concerns about public health and safety and the financial wherewithal of the proposed new owner, which would buy Yankee in 2018 and immediately start demolition and cleanup — decades ahead of a schedule adopted by Entergy, the current owner.
Entergy’s Lynch said the company was “continuing our review of the state’s hearing request and will file any response with the NRC on or before July 10, the deadline for filing a response.”
Meanwhile, the new chairman of the Public Service Board, attorney Anthony Roisman of Weathersfield, has recused himself from hearing the Yankee-NorthStar case. Roisman’s notice stated that the two other board members would decide the case.