VERMONT / ENTERGY nuclear waste NEGOTIATIONS SHROUDED IN SECRECY
: "Debate over dry cask fee heats up in House
By CAROLYN LORIé
Reformer Staff
Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - BRATTLEBORO -- The debate over whether Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee should pay the state an annual fee for dry casks storage continues, as a bill on the issue is making its way through the Vermont House of Representatives.
...
Using data from the sale of the plant in 2002, however, legislative consultant Richard Cowart estimated the plant will most likely earn a profit of $29 million a year until the end of its license. The company stands to make an additional $40 to $50 million a year if the bid to increase power by 20 percent is approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
...
Last Thursday, the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee approved the bill allowing construction of concrete containers, or dry casks, for the storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Vernon plant.
...
Spent fuel is currently stored in a 40-foot deep pool in the reactor building. It will be filled to capacity by 2008 or 2007, if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves Entergy's bid to increase power by 20 percent.
The casks will be used to store the older -- less "hot" -- fuel assemblies stored in the pool, making way for newer ones that will be taken from the reactor's core during the next refueling outage.
The bill calls for a minimal annual payment of $4 million from Entergy to the state. The money would go into a renewable energy fund, which will be administered by the Vermont Department of Public Service. It would be adjusted every year according to the consumer price index, which is used to gauge inflation.
According to members of the Natural Resources and Energy Committee, who crafted the bill, the charge is a means of offsetting the burden future Vermonters may bear because of the presence of the high-level nuclear waste site.
...
Negotiations continue between Entergy officials and members of the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy. Neither side will disclose what exactly is being discussed or whether an agreement is close at hand.
"
By CAROLYN LORIé
Reformer Staff
Tuesday, May 24, 2005 - BRATTLEBORO -- The debate over whether Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee should pay the state an annual fee for dry casks storage continues, as a bill on the issue is making its way through the Vermont House of Representatives.
...
Using data from the sale of the plant in 2002, however, legislative consultant Richard Cowart estimated the plant will most likely earn a profit of $29 million a year until the end of its license. The company stands to make an additional $40 to $50 million a year if the bid to increase power by 20 percent is approved by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
...
Last Thursday, the House Natural Resources and Energy Committee approved the bill allowing construction of concrete containers, or dry casks, for the storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Vernon plant.
...
Spent fuel is currently stored in a 40-foot deep pool in the reactor building. It will be filled to capacity by 2008 or 2007, if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves Entergy's bid to increase power by 20 percent.
The casks will be used to store the older -- less "hot" -- fuel assemblies stored in the pool, making way for newer ones that will be taken from the reactor's core during the next refueling outage.
The bill calls for a minimal annual payment of $4 million from Entergy to the state. The money would go into a renewable energy fund, which will be administered by the Vermont Department of Public Service. It would be adjusted every year according to the consumer price index, which is used to gauge inflation.
According to members of the Natural Resources and Energy Committee, who crafted the bill, the charge is a means of offsetting the burden future Vermonters may bear because of the presence of the high-level nuclear waste site.
...
Negotiations continue between Entergy officials and members of the Committee on Natural Resources and Energy. Neither side will disclose what exactly is being discussed or whether an agreement is close at hand.
"
posted by Greta Jane at Tuesday, May 24, 2005
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