UPDATED

Entergy keeps operating Vermont Yankee while leaking tritium (though it's not clear whether there are any new releases to the groundwater), trying to limp along until the scheduled April closing for refueling. Meanwhile, in Illinois, Exelon will have to pay big bucks for tritium leaks at three of their nuclear power plants.

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced yesterday that Exelon General Corporation will pay over $1 million to settle lawsuits arising from tritium leaks into groundwater from the Braidwood, Byron and Dresden nuclear power plants.

I haven't looked at the performance of the Byron and Dresden plants. About the Braidwood plant, Public Citizen says (and the Illinois EPA confirms):

The site has experienced eight leaks between 1996 and 2006, including one in 1998 and another in 2000. The 1998 leak resulted in the release of three million gallons of tritium-contaminated water. It was not until November 2005 that the leaks were revealed to state officials.

I have a call in to the Attorney General's office about whether there are any similar lawsuits filed or planned in Vermont. I haven't heard of any, but I've also been out of state for a few days. 

UPDATE 4:30 pm: Deputy Attorney General Janet Murnane has told me that while there are numerous ongoing state investigations, no civil lawsuits have been filed against Entergy or Vermont Yankee regarding the tritium leaks.

With the help of Glenn Scherer at Blue Ridge Press, I turned the state Senate vote on Vermont Yankee into an op-ed on states' rights to regulate nuclear power plant. Blue Ridge Press sends out op-eds to newspapers around the country, and Glenn hoped the states' rights slant would appeal to newspapers in some conservative states.

We'll see how that strategy works. So far, it's been picked up by The Epoch Times in New York City.

Town meeting voters in all four Mad River Valley towns - Warren, Waitsfield, Moretown, and Fayston - overwhelmingly supported a resolution today urging the state legislature NOT to relicense Vermont Yankee after its contract expires in 2012.

Even though the Vermont state Senate voted to do the same last week, it still feels good.

Here's A.P. writer John Curran's wrap-up on the issue.

Happy town meeting day. 

I was pleased today when Free Speech Radio News broadcast a story on the Vermont Yankee vote that I put together with assistance from Thomas Weiss. Nice to get more national exposure for the story, especially since Peter Shumlin is offering to consult with other states on how they, too, can take control of their aging reactors. The producer there was a joy to work with, too--she helped enrichen and otherwise improve the initial script that Thomas and I submitted.

FSRN is broadcast in central Vermont at 6 pm weekdays on WGDR, Plainfield, 91.1 FM, and WGDR can be streamed at wgdr.org.

In evaluating the resources comprising the “Commonwealth” of Vermont,
we made a disturbing discovery: Most of the valuable resources in
Vermont, including minerals, groundwater, surface water, hydro sites,
airwaves, etc., are owned by out-of state corporations.  Vermont is a
banana republic without the bananas...Gary Flomenhoft teaches energy technology and policy at the University of Vermont.

It is realistic to think that the generating capacity
of Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee (ENVY) can be economically,
environmentally and cost-effectively replaced in the near term by a
diversified strategy of conservation, market purchases, and local
renewable resources here...John (Sucosh) Norton is the Chief Operating Officer
for NRG Systems, a global leader in the manufacture of wind-
measurement equipment, based in Hinesburg.  John serves on the Climate
Change Oversight Committee for the State of Vermont and has worked in

Creating an Energy Descent Action Plan, launching local currencies,
organizing energy co-ops: these are all important parts of Transition
work....Carl Etnier is director of Peak Oil Awareness in
Montpelier. He hosts two radio shows and blogs on the subjects of Peak
Oil and relocalizing.

Off to Cali for a few days, a work-related trip that promises to be nasty, brutish, and short...‘The Greenneck’ lives and writes in the rusted-out shell of a one-ton Chevy pickup somewhere in Cabot.

Vermont Yankee Radioactive Plume

This week, Peter Shumlin, President Pro Tem of the Vermont State Senate, announced that the Senate will vote on whether Vermont Yankee should be closed on schedule.

The first vote will be this week and the final vote will be next week! After years of work by thousands of Vermonters, this is it!

Click here to send a message to your Senator.

One of the most interesting tension-points in the politics of climate change, sustainability and renewable energy is the issue of state sovereignty.

Any global solution that tries to force people, businesses, or governments to invest in renewable energy, or to pay a carbon-tax, will meet resistance from nations and individuals who simply want the cheapest energy possible.