House Panel To Finalize Decommissioning Bill

A Vermont House committee will put the finishing touches on a bill to strengthen Vermont Yankee nuclear plant's decommissioning fund this week. The bill marks the third such effort in recent years.

The House Natural Resources and Energy Committee wants to avoid a plan to mothball the Vernon reactor for up to 60 years while the decommissioning fund grows in hopes that it eventually will meet the cost of removing the reactor's radioactive components. It's a scenario that has been approved by federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The bill also calls for $50 million to be set aside to cover the difference between federal clean-up standards and the more extensive site cleanup the state of Vermont would like to see.