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Citizen Panel Will Monitor Yankee Decommissioning

State officials have named six members to a new panel that will oversee the decommissioning of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.

The 19-member panel was created to help assure transparency, communication and citizen involvement as Vermont Yankee is dismantled. The nuclear plant is scheduled to stop operating in December.

"Its charge going forward is to have citizens oversight of the decommissioning of a major facility here in the state of Vermont that has some of the most complex problems associated with it, none the least of which is the disposal of spent nuclear fuel that will likely be stored onsite for some time." - panel member David Deen

The decommissioning panel will replace the seven-member Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel, or VSNAP, and include current VSNAP members. The new members were appointed by Gov. Peter  Shumlin, House Speaker Shap Smith and Senate President Pro John Campbell.

Putney Representative David Deen, the long-time river steward for the Connecticut River Watershed Council, was among the appointees. Deen says the panel has an important responsibility.

"Its charge going forward is to have citizens oversight of the decommissioning of a major facility here in the state of Vermont that has some of the most complex problems associated with it, none  the least of which is the disposal of spent nuclear fuel that will likely be stored onsite for some time," Deen said. "And we’ve got to get it right."  

The panel will advise the state on decommissioning issues and serve as a conduit for public input and information. It will monitor reports from Entergy, the plant’s owner, on the decommissioning trust fund, site assessments and other issues that will play a key role in how decommissioning moves forward.

The panel will include two representatives from Entergy Vermont Yankee. Other appointees include Kate O’Connor of Brattleboro, Jim Matteau of Westminster, musician and activist Derrik Jordan of Putney.  Jim Tonkovich of Wilder and Martin Langeveld of Vernon have also been appointed. The group’s first meeting will be held in Brattleboro on September 25.

Susan Keese was VPR's southern Vermont reporter, based at the VPR studio in Manchester at Burr & Burton Academy. After many years as a print journalist and magazine writer, Susan started producing stories for VPR in 2002. From 2007-2009, she worked as a producer, helping to launch the noontime show Vermont Edition. Susan has won numerous journalism awards, including two regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for her reporting on VPR. She wrote a column for the Sunday Rutland Herald and Barre-Montpelier Times Argus. Her work has appeared in Vermont Life, the Boston Globe Magazine, The New York Times and other publications, as well as on NPR.
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