Vermont Yankee: National and International Meeting Notes

National Notes about the Public Meeting

Today, I have a guest post at the American Nuclear Society's Nuclear Cafe Blog: Vermont Yankee's Greatest Hits from the Public Service Board Meeting. The post consists of excerpts from five of the statement presented in favor of Vermont Yankee at the November 7 Public Service Board meeting.  I included parts of the following statements:

1. Dick Trudell saying that Vermont Yankee is batting .800, and why would anyone replace this type of plant with a couple of rookies batting 0.300 or less.
2. Kenyon Webber pointing out that Vermont Yankee is a local business, and you should buy your electricity locally.
3. Karen Wilson describing the effect of that a good job at Vermont Yankee has had on her family and her education.
4. Peter Roth describing the "Misery Index" of being without electricity, and that phobias about radiation should not determine public policy.
5. Heather Sheppard on how Vermont Yankee helps the tourism industry in Vermont by clean air, low rates, and beauty.

I tried to figure out how I had chosen these statements among so many good statements.  Then I realized: The ANS blog reaches a national and international audience.  I chose statements that were specific to Vermont, but had general applicability to most nuclear plants.

Read it and enjoy it!

Inter-National Notes about the Public Meeting:

Steve Aplin of Canadian Energy Issues his two posts mentioning the public meeting, and describing the effect of pro-nuclear activism in Vermont on pro-nuclear activism in Canada.

Nuclear Power in Vermont and Ontario: The locals fight back, intelligently.

The Nuclear Ground Game: Coming Soon to Courtice, Ontario

By the way, there's a lively and somewhat acrimonious comment thread on the latter blog post. My favorite comment is this one, which took a very unexpected turn:

robert budd wrote:

"I can’t see why we even entertain this debate. I’ve lived off-grid for 23 years using wind, solar and a fossil fueled generator. Being totally responsible for my own electricity needs has made me a bit of an energy wonk. Its also given me a strong appreciation for the huge benefit nuclear energy has provided for this province. This long, hot, windless summer was a great example."

Similarly, Rod Adams of Atomic Insights comments on the meeting in his blog post, On the Atomic Insights Radar. November 19.   Since that post also covers nuclear stories in Canada and India, I decided to count it as "international."  I am sure Rod won't mind!

All Politics is Local

Ultimately, all politics is local.  Ultimately, only a few people will be known at a national level, but we can all influence the choices made in the area where we live.

I sincerely hope that the solid arguments of the pro-Vermont Yankee people at these hearings will indeed influence others, in other parts of the country, and in other parts of the world. And of course, I hope our voices are heard by the Vermont Public Service Board.