US News

Vermont senate votes to close nuclear power plant

Feb 25, 2010, 20:48 GMT

Washington - Legislators in the north-eastern state of Vermont Thursday voted to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant, refusing to back a license extension for the plant that opened in 1972.

Members of the Vermont Senate expressed growing concern about recent leaks of radioactive tritium, the collapse of a cooling tower three years ago and conflicting information from the plant's operator, Entergy Corp, according to the New York Times.

The vote was greeted by Beyond Nuclear, a Washington-based group committed to ridding the world of nuclear power plants and weapons.

'Vermont is at the forefront of a fight to rein in an undemocratic technology and a promotionally biased licensing process,' said the group's Paul Gunter in a statement.

The plant needed Vermont Senate approval to operate beyond 2012.

The move comes jsut a week after US President Barack Obama announced new federal backing for nuclear energy in the form of a monetary infusion for building an Augusta, Georgia, power plant.