Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
|
|
Entergy_vy.jpeg
Vermont Yankee is a boiling water reactor (BWR) type nuclear power plant currently owned by Entergy Nuclear. It is located in the town of Vernon, Vermont and generates approximately 535 megawatts (MWe) of electricity. The plant began commercial operations in 1972.
On July 31, 2002, Entergy’s Non-Utility Nuclear business purchased Vermont Yankee from Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation for $180 million. Entergy received the plant, nuclear fuel, inventories, and related real estate. The liability to decommission the plant, as well as related decommissioning trust funds of approximately $310 million, was also transferred to Entergy. The acquisition included a 10-year power purchase agreement (PPA) under which the former owners will buy the power produced by the plant, which is past the expiration date of the current operating license for the plant on March 21, 2012.
| Contents |
Economics
- Vermont Yankee provides 600 full-time jobs in Windham County, VT and more than half of its employees live in Vermont. 100% of the plant employees pay Vermont income taxes, regardless of where they live.
- Vermont Yankee paid nearly $10 million in state and local taxes in 2003. Through payroll, state and local taxes, and the purchase of local goods and services, Vermont Yankee provides about $200 million a year in economic benefit every year to the regional and state economies. According to projections by the Vermont Department of Public Service (which is the state’s consumer advocate agency), the current 10-year power contract between Entergy Vermont Yankee and the Vermont utilities is expected to save Vermont customers about $250 million below market costs by 2012.
- Vermont Yankee is one of the most economical sources of electricity in Vermont’s power supply. 600 jobs, $200 million in annual economic benefits to the region and $250 million in savings on electric bills are extremely important to the state and regional economies.
Clean air
- Vermont Yankee generates one-third of the electricity used in Vermont and does not burn fossil fuel. This means that VY helps to avoid greenhouse gases and other air pollution.
- Plants like Vermont Yankee provide large amounts of 24-hour a day “baseload” power that provides electricity for homes, offices, factories, schools, hospitals and other vital uses. This dependable, reliable power does not rely on the availability of wind velocity or river flow.
- Vermont Yankee compliments other Vermont power sources by providing a large, reliable base of power. Since coming online in 1972, Vermont Yankee has avoided the emission of more than 100 tons of carbon dioxide and other air pollutants, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
Dry fuel storage
- Entergy is seeking to gain approval for enough dry fuel storage to get through to the end of the existing plant operating license expiring in 2012. Dry fuel storage is a proven technology that has been used for more than a decade and currently is in use at 24 nuclear power plant sites around the U.S. Loading spent fuel into transportable dry fuel storage casks is the first step toward sending it out of Vermont to a central federal repository when one opens at Yucca Mountain, NV.
External links
- Entegy Corporation's Vermont Yankee web page (http://www.entergy-nuclear.com/Nuclear/sites/yankee.asp)
- Entergy Press release regarding the purchase of the plant. (http://www.entergy.com/Corp/newsroom/newsDetail.asp?ID=391&RC=corp&List=Region)