Douglas Maintains Stance On Vermont Yankee

(Host) Governor Jim Douglas says the Legislature should give state regulators the authority to decide Vermont Yankee's future.

The governor says recent disclosures about radioactive tritium found at the plant have shaken public trust in Yankee.

But he says the Public Service Board - and not politicians - has the expertise to decide whether Yankee should be licensed to operate for another 20 years.

(Douglas) "This is a decision best made outside of the political realm, but by the regulators at the state and federal level. And I believe that the Legislature ought to allow the Public Service Board to move forward and make those decisions."

(Host) Douglas says his administration will decide what position to take on extending Yankee's license after investigations are completed into the source of the tritium.

He also says the attorney general should investigate if the probe finds that Yankee misled regulators about underground pipes, which could be the source of the tritium.