Hundreds of people turned out for a public hearing in Vernon, VT, Wednesday evening.
They came to discuss the future of the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, located across the Ct River from Hinsdale, NH.
The company that owns the plant wants to increase its power output.
And the proposal has sharply divided local residents.
NHPR Correspondent Eesha Williams attended the meeting and files this report.
The meeting was held at the Vernon Elementary School, right across the street from Vermont Yankee.
The school?s parking lot quickly filled, so many people had to park half a mile away and trudge through the wet night.
Town fire officials said too many people had crammed into the cafeteria, so they moved the meeting to the gymnasium.
After more than 2 hours of presentations by Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Company and town officials, the first member of the public got a chance to speak about the proposed uprate.
Ira Helfand, an emergency room doctor from nearby Massachusetts, opposes it..
HELFAND
My emergency room cannot deal with the casualties that would be produced by an accident at this plant. Nor can the emergency room at Greenfield, or at Keene, or in Brattleboro? Now, Energy wants to make this plant even more dangerous by upgrading its production beyond what it was supposed to tolerate? There should not be an upgrade here. This plant should not be uprated. It shouldn?t be allowed to operate. It should be shut down.
[FADE LENTHGY, LOUD APPLAUSE INTO BACKGROUND AND CONTINUE FOR 10 SECONDS.]
Entergy, the company that owns the Vermont Yankee wants to increase it's power output by 20%.
If the Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants the request, the Vermont Yankee would be the oldest nuclear power plant to increase its power by so much.
Last month the Vermont Public Service Board approved the uprate but only if the NRC commissions an independent engineering assessment of the plant.
The hope among the plant's opponents is that the review will force a repeat of history.
In 1997 after such an assessment, Maine Yankee's owner decided it would be too costly to bring the plant up to speed.
And the company closed the Maine facility permanently.
Hundreds of people at the hearing Wednesday waved yellow and orange signs calling for that independent assessment of the Vermont Yankee.
But Bill Ruland, told the crowd the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was unlikely to grant their request.
Ruland works at the NRC in charge of reviewing nuclear ?uprate? applications.
RULAND
At this stage, our thinking is, the agency?s normal oversight and uprate review process, we believe, provides information that coincides with the Public Service Board?s concerns ? There?s a lot of talk about, ?What is an independent review?? Well, first of all, the NRC is an independent regulatory agency, established by Congress.
[PROLONGED BOOS, JEERS, FROM AUDIENCE]
WILLIAMS
The crowd appeared to be overwhelmingly in favor of closing the Vermont Yankee.
But A handful of people spoke in favor of the Plant and the uprate.
Their comments were sometimes met with jeers and boos from the crowd.
Peggy Farabaugh, a member of the Vernon selectboard, said more than 90 percent of her constituents support Entergy.
She said more residents would have spoken in favor of the plant if the anti-nuclear citizens had been more respectful.
FARABAUGH
You don?t see a lot of people from Vernon here, one, because they don?t enjoy this type of entertainment. The other reason you don?t see a lot of people from Vernon here is because when we stand up and try and speak, look at the way we get treated. There?s not a lot of respect in this room? So we do support Vermont Yankee and I don?t support an independent safety assessment.
WILLIAMS
One reason Vernon residents may be in favor of the plant is that it provides jobs and substantial tax revenue to the town.
Vernon has one of the lowest property tax rates in the state and the town enjoys a multi-million dollar surplus in its treasury.
Michael Ball is a Vernon selectboard member and also an Entergy employee.
BALL
In the long-run, it?s in the economic best interest of the town for the plant to continue operating? There?s jobs, there?s a lot of money that?s spent in Vernon, as well as in the surrounding area, from Vermont Yankee.
WILLIAMS
The NRC has said it will issue a decision on Entergy?s uprate proposal next January. Before that, the agency plans to hold at least one more public meeting in Vernon.
In the meantime, Entergy officials have said the company is going ahead with 60 million dollars in equipment upgrades in preparation for the NRC's approval.
For NHPR News, this is Eesha Williams in Brattleboro.
