Coakley joins fight to close nuclear plant

Massachusetts is backing Vermont in its efforts to prevent the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant from operating beyond next March. Massachusetts intends to file a friend of the court brief supporting Vermont in a federal case brought by plant owner, Entergy Corp. A spokeswoman says Massachusetts’ attorney general, Martha Coakley, filed a motion this week seeking to submit the full brief by June 13 in US District Court in Brattleboro. In its suit, Entergy asserts Vermont overstepped its authority by trying to deny the plant in Vernon, on the Massachusetts border, permission to operate beyond next March, when its federal license expires. The federal government has extended the license for 20 years and Entergy says federal law takes precedence. The Conservation Law Foundation has also sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. (AP)