Tomorrow morning, Chairman Jaczko of the NRC will be in Brattleboro. Jaczko will be at the Ramada Inn in Brattleboro from 9:30 to 11 a.m. He will be taking questions from the seven groups that have concerns about Vermont Yankee. I don't have a complete list of groups, but VPIRG, NEC, the Safe and Green Campaign, and the Conservation Law Foundation are sure to be included.The rest of us are allowed to watch these groups question Jaczko. Since nobody else can ask questions, this blog post is more of a call-to-inaction than a call-to-action. For most people, there's no real reason to go. I'll be there. I blog about VY, so I can't skip this event. Also, I am covering the meeting for a trade journal (press badge hat instead of blogger's hat).
At 11 a.m., after Jaczko's discussion with the intervenors, he will give a press conference. As I understand it, he will then spend the afternoon at VY.
Wagers
Two days ago, I spent three hours at a Public Service Board meeting, mostly listening to interveners express their fears. Therefore, I'm not filled with enthusiasm about attending this meeting.
Still, I like to make things interesting for myself. Gambling always spices things up. Who will take my wagers? No money will change hands. However, I hope to settle the bets in the traditional surroundings. Salt hill pub in Lebanon probably. Or a similar venue.
Take up these wagers by adding a comment to this post.
- I bet that the intervenors will grandstand and ask long, loaded questions, and hardly let Jaczko get a word in. My wager: more than three-fourths of the air time will be taken by the intervenor "questions." Who will wager against me here?
- One intervenor is famous for shouting while other people are talking. He shouts things like "It's a lie" or "Junk Science." My wager: One intervenor will interrupt Jaczko by shouting. Who will wager against me here?
- Another intervenor throws things. I don't think she will do so, though Da Commissioner is a very tempting target. My wager: The slinger does not sling anything tomorrow morning. Who will wager against me here?
- Colorful costumes are the order of the day at these meetings. My wager: Somebody in the audience will dress as a fish. Who will wager against me here?
- Someone will get confused, and instead of talking about tritium and accusing VY management of lying, they will accuse tritium of lying. My wager: Tritium will be accused of lying. Who will wager against me here?
I'll probably lose the last bet (number 5) now that I have warned everyone of the possibilities.
Bet against me on any of these! It will be like taking candy from a baby. Really. Easy. Place your bet in the comment section.
Late News: Business Leaders NOT happy with Jaczko's choice
Business leaders are not happy with the fact that Jaczko will listen to intervenors, and will go to the plant, but is not willing to listen to plant supporters. He acts as if there are only two groups:
- people against the plant
- people who work at the plant.
No. There's another group. There are also plant supporters. As the Vermont Energy Partnership states in a press release this evening:
In our view, having a one-sided stakeholder meeting with anti-nuclear activists to discuss the future of Vermont Yankee during your visit to the state sends a negative message to supporters about the NRC’s position on this issue......Though we have repeatedly sought an audience with you during your visit, we are formally requesting that you grant us time to meet with you and senior members of your staff to speak with us and other business and labor leaders in Vermont.
A Business Perspective
This morning, Rod Adams of Atomic Insights posted about excluding business leaders from the NRC meeting. Many of us know Rod as a blogger, Navy Officer, and proponent of small reactors. In his post today, Rod has the perspective of a businessman, drawing on his years as manager of a small factory. As Rod writes:
That business happened to be one of the more energy intensive operations in town; our electric bill could run as high as $8,000 per month for a little plastic product manufacturing enterprise with an annual revenue of less than $1 million.
As he says in the post, he would have been furious at being excluded from an important meeting about electricity with a distinguished visitor who had come to town.
