Editor’s note: This opinion is by Tim Smith, the executive director of Franklin County Industrial Development Corporation. He lives in St. Albans.
Since mid-January, Vermonters have watched with interest and concern the round-the-clock efforts of Vermont Yankee employees who sought, located and are now cleaning up the tritium leak.
And while it has not been an easy road, there are lessons that can be learned and applied moving forward that can help us keep tough situations in perspective. When cool heads prevail, we all win.
If nothing else is apparent from this experience, it’s that the employees at Vermont Yankee stepped up to the plate and did what needed to be done. These skilled professionals worked around the clock in winter conditions to locate the source of the leak as soon as possible. Even critics of Vermont Yankee must grudgingly admire their professionalism. The implication is obvious: losing these people to another state would be a tremendous loss of “human capital” – a.k.a. Vermonters of good character.
In their haste to vilify Vermont Yankee and push through a self-serving vote in the Senate, opponents were willing to look past the more than 1,200 job losses and significant economic consequences that would result from closing the nuclear plant.
Beginning with the discovery of the leak, the public information and accountability process worked as designed. An all but ignored important fact is that the leak was found by a voluntary monitoring system installed by Vermont Yankee at its own initiative and cost. And, since the early days shortly after the leak was reported, Vermont Yankee has submitted daily briefings on the tritium situation to public officials and the press. Additionally, both the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Vermont Department of Health were on the scene and kept abreast of all actions and developments.
We’re a small, environmentally-minded state. When the leak was announced, the public reacted strongly, and understandably so. But state Department of Health officials repeatedly confirmed that the leak posed no threat to human health.
Long-time opponents of Vermont Yankee saw an opportunity to forward their cause. In their haste to vilify Vermont Yankee and push through a self-serving vote in the Senate, they were willing to look past the more than 1,200 job losses and significant economic consequences that would result from closing Vermont Yankee. To make matters worse, they have consistently failed to propose adequate alternatives to Vermont Yankee’s electricity. In fact, the only options put forth would significantly increase air pollution, spike electricity rates, or both.
From a business standpoint, Vermont needs Vermont Yankee’s clean, low-cost and dependable electricity more than ever. But the stakes are bigger than electricity alone. In economic terms, Vermont Yankee means more than 1,200 jobs, $93 million in payroll, $15 million in state tax revenue, and $78.5 million in additional disposable income for Vermonters in 2009 alone. Those jobs and the funds they generate benefit every Vermonter, and they cannot be replaced.
Nearly all Vermonters support smart energy efficiency programs and developing renewable energy sources. But new renewable sources will take years to build. With a fair offer from Entergy on the table, keeping Vermont Yankee running means affordable, clean power laying the foundation upon which to build the next generation of energy.
With the tritium issue now close to over, let’s take a step back and consider what’s most important for Vermont.
