Douglas wants to limit other states' say on Vermont Yankee
MONTPELIER, Vt. --Gov. James Douglas says he doesn't like the idea of a neighboring state being able to ask for an independent safety review of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.
"I think it is a precedent we need to be very wary of to empower the governor of another state to be involved in the regulatory practices" of a neighboring state, Douglas said.
The comment came in response to a proposal by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., that would allow neighboring states to request an independent safety assessment at a nuclear plant.
Douglas also labeled "presumptuous" Sanders' recent comment that Vermonters have lost confidence in the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Vermont Yankee is located on the Connecticut River in the state's southeast corner in Vernon. New Hampshire is within sight across the river from the plant site. The plant's five-mile emergency evacuation zone extends into both New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
If there were a nuclear plant in New Hampshire near the Vermont border "I would expect the governor of New Hampshire would feel the same as I do about public safety," -- not wanting Vermont interfering in its efforts to regulate the plant, Douglas said.
Both New Hampshire and Massachusetts frequently have been parties in regulatory proceedings before the NRC relating to Vermont Yankee in the past.
Under Douglas, Vermont also has tried to intervene in environmental controversies other states. The state sued unsuccessfully to block a test burn of tire-derived fuel at the
Douglas said Vermont's suit was unsuccessful, and sought to make a distinction between intervening in another state's affairs through the courts versus by advocating passage of a new law in Congress.
The governor acknowledged that recent problems at Vermont Yankee -- including the collapse of a cooling tower and a sudden, automatic shutdown due to a valve problem, had shaken public confident in the plant.
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Information from: The Times Argus, http://www.timesargus.com/
