Feds want more financial information in Vermont Yankee deal

A federal regulatory agency says it needs more financial information before it can approve the sale of Vermont Yankee.

Potential buyer NorthStar has not proved that it has enough money to clean up the shuttered nuclear power plant, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

"We make it clear in this letter that as of now, we're unable to find that the funding mechanisms as proposed are adequate and that there will be sufficient funds available to decommission the facility," NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan told Vermont Public Radio.

Northstar is reviewing the NRC's request and will provide more information, Scott State, Northstar's CEO and chief nuclear officer, said in an email.

"We look forward to providing the NRC with the additional information it seeks to guide review of our plan to safely and efficiently restore the Vermont Yankee site to conditions suitable for productive economic use decades ahead of schedule," he said.

Vermont Yankee closed in 2014 after operating for 42 years. Under the current agreement, NorthStar would commit to initiating decontamination and dismantlement by 2021.

The sale and settlement must be approved by the state Public Utility Commission.

The NRC knows that the state has reached a deal with Entergy and Northstar on financial matters but needs to review the details of the settlement, Sheehan told VPR.

"Obviously the more detail the companies can provide, the more satisfied we're going to be," Sheehan said. "But at this point, we've been at this now for quite some time and all of our concerns are not yet resolved."

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Information from: WVPS-FM, http://www.vpr.net