Yankee Rebuffed By Governor, Rebuked By Regulators

AP Photo/Toby Talbot

Governor Jim Douglas says he has lost confidence in the management at Entergy Vermont Yankee.

Douglas asked the Legislature to delay voting on whether Vermont Yankee's license should be extended for 20 years.

And his administration will ask the Public Service Board to close down a case in which Entergy asked for permission to spin off Vermont Yankee and five other nuclear plants into a new company.

Douglas says several investigations that are under way have to be completed before Vermont can trust plant management.

Vermont Yankee has been engulfed in controversy since it disclosed that it found radioactive water. There are indications that the radioactivity might have come from underground pipes that Yankee previously claimed didn't exist.

Earlier in the day, The Public Service Board reprimanded Entergy Vermont Yankee for providing misleading information about underground pipes at the nuclear power plant.

Entergy is before the board seeking permission to operate for another 20 years. But this morning, each member of the three-member board scolded the company for misstating important facts in the case.

Chairman James Volz said Entergy apparently repeatedly made false statements to regulators, lawmakers, and the Douglas Administration.