Senate Hands Vermont Yankee A Defeat

AP Photo/Toby Talbot

(Host) Vermont Yankee was handed a defeat today in the Statehouse.

Just a few minutes ago, the Vermont Senate voted 26-4 against permitting the nuclear power plant to be relicensed for another 20 years.

Senators spent hours discussing Entergy Vermont Yankee's operation of the plant, which has been leaking radioactive tritium from underground pipes.

Republican senators argued that senators should wait for economic studies to be completed. They tried unsuccessfully to delay a vote.

Democrats also turned aside alternatives that would have permitted the Public Service Board to decide the licensing issue.

Senators say the Legislature will have an opportunity to revisit the issue next year. Yankee's license is due to expire in 2012.