Federal regulators will come to Vermont next week to hear arguments on whether there should be a full-blown hearing on the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant’s request for a power boost. The quasi-judicial Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, an arm of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, will meet in Brattleboro on October 21 and possibly on the October 22.
The board will hear from NRC staff, the state Department of Public Service and the nuclear watchdog group New England Coalition, as well as Entergy Nuclear, owners of the Vernon reactor. The state believes the 20 percent power increase, as proposed, would compromise safety margins at the 32-year-old nuclear plant.