Editor’s Note: This op-ed is by George Clain, former president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local Chapter 300.
Our Vermont attorney general spent $100,000 determining that Entergy didn’t do anything unlawful when it testified about underground pipes.
According to the federal government, an ”underground” pipe is a pipe that comes in direct contact with the soil. To make a long story short: When Vermont Yankee officials testified that there were no “underground” pipes carrying radioactive material, they were telling the truth.
Now the skeptic might ask, “why didn’t any of the self-proclaimed nuclear experts among Vermont Yankee’s opponents catch this very important distinction?” I suspect they knew exactly what they were asking, and they knew by asking the question as to “underground” they would get the answer they needed to again bridle Vermont to do their bidding. As for Vermont Yankee’s officials – I suspect it is because they did not try to redefine the terms as set down for them by the federal government. The nuclear industry does NOT have the authority, nor should it be left for them, to redefine the definitions governing them. They are working by the federal government’s rules and definitions.
As for the plant’s opponents, well…why not spend $100,000 of the state’s money to accomplish what they want? Can anyone deny that the uproar over the “underground” pipes lead to the Senate vote to not relicense Vermont Yankee? I have to give the antinuclear group credit. They are good at using all the tricks of the trade they can come up with, including not asking – below grade or subsurface — to get at what they must have known or should have known, being they are the experts the state is listening to.
