(Host) The city of Northampton Massachusetts has registered its concerns about the power increase at Vermont Yankee.
The Mayor and the president of the City Council have written a letter to the Vermont Public Service Board. It asks the regulatory body to insist on an independent safety assessment before the power increase is allowed to continue.
And it asks for a more “prudent” approach to both the uprate and the proposed 20-year re-licensing of the plant.
Claire Higgins is the Northampton Mayor.
(Higgins) “We think there needs to be a full inspection and it’s interesting that there’s been some issues now that the power’s ramped up … and we’re only 31 miles away as the crow flies and any radiation that escapes from the plant doesn’t care about the highway. It’s going to go down wind. So we want to make sure it’s safe before the output is allowed to increase.”
(Host) Higgins said Massachusetts Congressman John Olver had also written to the board with similar concerns.
A spokesman for the Public Service Board said the board had received the letters, but would not comment on a possible response.