NRC approves emergency-safeguard changes at dormant Vermont plant

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said late last week that it has approved changes to the emergency-preparedness plan at Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station in Vernon, Vermont, effective April 15, 2016, as part of the plant's decommissioning.

Under the changes, certain regulatory measures no longer will be needed at the plant, which owner-operator Entergy said finished its final cycle on Dec. 29, 2014.

Among the changes that will take place is that emergency-response planning on the part of local or state governments will not require an off-site plan that is approved by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Instead, government response will be incorporated into comprehensive emergency-management planning. Changes also reflect that there will no longer be a 10-mile emergency planning zone once the changes go into effect. 

The facility began operations in 1972. The NRC said the spent fuel from the facility has been transported to storage sites.