VPIRG & CLF call upon federal prosecutors to investigate VT Yankee

The Conservation Law Foundation and Vermont Public Interest Research Group wrote to Attorney General Eric Holder and US Attorney Tristram Coffin today, saying Entergy willfully violated federal law when its executives gave false and misleading information, under oath, to regulators and Vermont lawmakers in 2009.  
A “willful violation,” under federal law, includes both “intentional misrepresentations” of facts and a “careless disregard” of the duties required of an operator of a nuclear power plant. Entergy, is guilty of both, and that requires criminal investigation.
Chris Kilian, of the Conservation Law Foundation, said,“The public has to be able to trust nuclear power plant operators, and Entergy has breached that trust by either lying or carelessly disregarding important power plant systems. The requirements for operating a nuclear plant under federal law are clear and quite detailed, and they specifically include keeping track of ‘locations of possible inaccessible contamination such as buried pipes which may be subject to contamination.’  Entergy’s actions must be investigated and, if necessary, prosecuted.”
VPIRG’s Executive Director Paul Burns stated, “The waters of Vermont are already being polluted with radioactive tritium, thanks to this company’s mismanagement and deceit. Considering the consequences of an even more catastrophic accident, it is clear Entergy has no business running a nuclear power plant.  They have violated federal law intended to keep us safe, and there should be accountability.”
Killian and Burns point out that leaks of radioactive tritium and other isotopes into the groundwater around the Yankee plant are directly attributable to Entergy’s failures to follow the law.
Entergy, Killian and Burns note, has already been sanctioned twice by the Vermont Public Service Board for its failure to follow the law.

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