The Vermont Legislature might not decide this year if the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant will be able to operate after 2012, when its current license expires.
Democratic Sen. Virginia Lyons, the chairwoman of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee, says it will take lawmakers some time to slog through all the data related to the plant.
Vermont Yankee owner Entergy Nuclear wants to increase the plant’s operating license for another 20 years.
Legislative consultant Ezra Hausman told three legislative committees at a Thursday hearing that a consultant to the state Department of Public Service had used overly optimistic assumptions about Vermont Yankee’s future.