Shortly after, we co-founded the Institute for Nuclear Host Communities, launched shortly after the Vermont Yankee closure announcement late last summer. We had seen from a preliminary survey that very little had been studied about these events and, from our observation, that most closings of nuclear plants left their host communities and regions worse off than they had been before the plant was built.
That insight, plus the realization that there was no shared knowledge about closure negotiations, meant that every event was essentially brand new and that we were not learning anything about a dramatic economic event that will affect more than 60 communities in the next 30 years.
In addition to the nearby closures of Maine Yankee in Wiscasset, Maine, Yankee Rowe in Rowe, Mass., and Connecticut Yankee in Haddam, Conn., we have examined recent closings in the U.S., Europe (Eastern and Western), and Japan.
We highlight three key items relevant to Vermont's immediate challenge in addressing socioeconomic losses from the Vermont Yankee closing.