The Vermont Senate voted 26-4 on Wednesday against a bill that could have allowed the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant to operate for another 20 years. The bill’s death in the Senate means that the Public Service Board is not authorized to rule on whether Vermont Yankee’s license should be extended past 2012, when the plant is scheduled to be decommissioned.
VPR’s Jane Lindholm discusses what the Senate’s action means for the long-term future of Vermont Yankee with VPR’s John Dillon, who’s covered the story extensively, and Michael Dworkin, a former chair of the Public Service Board and head of Vermont Law School’s Institute for Energy and the Environment.