New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. will refuel its Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant in Vernon this spring.
The news that the national nuclear power company will continue to invest in Vermont Yankee, first reported by Vermont Business Magazine, runs counter to speculation that the plant could be closed shortly over Entergy's faltering financial position.
In published reports, Vermont Yankee spokesman Rob Williams said the planned refueling is a routine process done every 18 months to replace one-third of the plant's fuel, and would create a refueling outage of up to several weeks.
The 41-year-old plant's state permit to operate, known as a Certificate of Public Good, expired in March 2012, and the company has been fighting fierce opposition for a 20-year extension.
This refueling outage will keep VY open until at least fall of 2014, pending the outcome of legal battles with the state of Vermont in the U.S. Court of Appeals, before the Vermont Public Service Board, and before the Vermont Supreme Court.
“We're proceeding with business as usual and making upgrades where necessary,” Williams told VBM. “As we plan this outage our assumption is we're operating until 2032.”
Global financial services firm UBS Securities had suggested in early February that Entergy might shut the plant this year because it isn't generating enough cash.
UBS recently downgraded the financial status of the company from “neutral” to “sell.” Entergy stock dropped 8 percent this past year.
VBM reported that Williams declined to say what the refueling would cost, or, for competitive reasons, when it would take place. This will be the plant's 30th refueling since it went online in 1972. Its most recent, in October 2011, reportedly cost $100 million, including $60 million for the fuel.
UBS's Julien Dumoulin-Smith told VBM he wouldn't speculate on why Entergy decided to refuel VY, but said, “It's clear that management has committed to operate the plant at a cash negative.”