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MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) — The owner of Vermont’s only nuclear power
plant plans to move forward with a $60 million refueling this fall
despite uncertainty about whether it will be able to operate beyond
March, when its current operating license expires.
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New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., which is locked in a legal battle
with the state over the future of the Vermont Yankee plant, said
the company’s attorneys felt the company would eventually win its
legal battle with the state.
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Earlier this year, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued Vermont
Yankee a 20-year license extension that would allow the plant to
remain open until 2032. But the state, which claims it has
jurisdiction over the plant’s operation, wants the plant to close
and has so far not acted on a state certification that it says is
needed for Vermont Yankee to remain open.
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Entergy’s lawsuit challenging the state is scheduled to go to trial
in September.
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“Our board believes both the merits of the company’s legal position
and the record strongly support its decision to continue to trial
scheduled to begin on Sept. 12,” said Entergy CEO J. Wayne Leonard.
“On that basis, the decision was made to move forward with the
refueling as planned.”
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Saturday had been the deadline for ordering the fuel rods that will
be used in the refueling, scheduled for October.
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Vermont Yankee said Monday that during a typical 30-day refueling
outage, approximately 120 fuel assemblies, or one-third of the
reactor core, are replaced.
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While the refueling is under way, about 5,000 other maintenance
chores are performed that can only be done when the plant is shut
down.
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