The anti-nuclear organization New England Coalition and the Vermont Public Interest Research Group are asking the Vermont Public Service Board to take into account new information about layoffs at Vermont Yankee as part of the board's decision to approve or deny the nuclear plant a new 20-year license to operate.
Last week, Entergy Corp., which owns Vermont Yankee, announced that it would cut about 30 jobs at the nuclear plant by the end of the year.
Both nonprofits are parties to the plant's application for a new permit, or certificate of public good.
They want the Public Service Board to access certain documents and take the recent layoff numbers into consideration when deciding whether to re-permit the plant.
“In addition to seeking answers to (the) what-did-they-know and when-did-they-know-it question, the interveners are asking the Board to incorporate all of the information into the record of the proceedings so that it can be considered in rendering a decision, expected now in late November,” attorneys for the groups wrote in a statement.
The exhibits the attorneys would like the board to consider include the VTDigger.org story on July 30, Entergy to cut 30 jobs at Vermont Yankee, that first spotlighted the layoffs; an Entergy news release from July 16 that outlined its second quarter earnings for 2013; and a July 30 Vermont Public Radio story on the layoffs, http://bit.ly/158BqBF.