Editor’s note: This commentary is by Rep. Mike Hebert, the Vernon-Guilford member in the Vermont House of Representatives. He lives in Vernon.
Re: “State sees ‘significant risk’ in Vermont Yankee sale”:
[A]s a current legislator who served on the House committee dealing with energy matters, and as an elected public servant to my neighbors in Vernon, I have seen many interactions between state, local and federal officials over the years. Right now I’m very concerned about the message the Vermont State Department of Public Service is sending to the federal government and to NorthStar, the company that wants to decommission Vermont Yankee by 2026.
In a recent federal filing, the state worries about “creating a significant risk that a new entity begins decommissioning and then runs out of money.” Significant? Really? NorthStar routinely completes much bigger, more challenging projects on budget and on time. Yet to be safe and in compliance, NorthStar has designed “redundant backup systems” of financial protection against unexpected costs. Not wishing to spend the $73 million over-job-estimate balance in the Trust Fund, NorthStar will take out a $125 million “insurance policy” against overruns. Furthermore, NorthStar’s subcontractors have performance bonds to protect NorthStar against their possible performance failure.
The state also expresses worry about highly unlikely events, such as “a radiological incident” and “complications with long-term storage.” Once spent fuel is reposed in dry storage casks on the concrete pad by the end of 2018, the possibility of an accident is practically nil.
NorthStar has a good track record of identifying, isolating, and removing contaminants. It’s what they do and they do it very well.
The discovery of unknown major contamination on the site is not impossible, but again, NorthStar has a good track record of identifying, isolating, and removing contaminants. It’s what they do and they do it very well. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have moved to the forefront of the decommissioning industry.
Caution and planning are good and necessary. Delay, whether as a strategy or from dithering because something unforeseen might possibly happen, isn’t. The federal government doesn’t treat safety, economic viability and decommissioning as either/or propositions. This is supported by law and decades of practical experience. Suggesting otherwise is a sure way to lose in the federal arena.
However, I am more concerned about the impact of the state’s comments on NorthStar’s resolve. This company entered into a contract last year in good faith, hoping to move forward on work with obvious benefits to Windham County. With the state being so adversarial, the real “significant risk” is the state itself, and the potential for NorthStar to stop throwing good money after bad and just give up, leaving Vernon and Windham County to a half-century of cleanup inactivity and economic stagnation.