Longstanding opponents of Vermont Yankee have continually objected to NorthStar's proposed plan to decommission the nuclear plant within the next 10 years despite all of the near-term benefits. Most recently, a number of individuals have demanded that the Vermont Yankee site should be decontaminated to the level of 10 millirems, rather than the 15-millirem level proposed by NorthStar.
The Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF), jointly funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and the Japanese government in Hiroshima, has led the world in research on the health-effects of low-dose radiation.
The organization's findings contradict the straight-line danger of low-dose radiation based on assumptions from high-dose analysis. Higher, safe-dosage standards would reduce the costs and waste that continue to haunt the future of nuclear power.
Placed in the context of state and federal radiation standards, these local demands are arbitrary, unnecessary, and costly. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission sets the national radiation threshold at 25 millirem, and the state of Vermont's level is significantly lower, at 15 millirem.
NorthStar's radiation threshold, at nearly half the federal level and equal to the state's limits, goes far and beyond what's necessary for radiation safety standards.
Other than obstructing the approval of the sale and blocking economic growth in the region for decades, there is no reasonable explanation for preferring a 10-millirem proposed threshold.
It should be opposed summarily so economic growth can be ours again.