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Oh, God,
Will it never stop? And if not, must it go on now just as our legislative troubles are in a virtual lather?
As you know, our security force is provided by Wackenhut, a contractor servicing much of the nuclear industry and many prisons. Their reputation is dicey--partly because a whole roomful of guards at the Peach Bottom Nuclear Power Plant was caught on videotape snoozing their shift away, partly because some guards at Turkey Point nuclear power plant were less than responsible with their guns, and partly because of scandals like the repeated rape of a 14 year old by Wackenhut guards.
Anyway, now there's more trouble with Wackenhut. At Three-Mile Island, a Wackenhut guard abandoned his post. Of course, plant safety "was never jeapardized."
Never is.
Amen,
Fake-Rob
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
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http://www.entergy-nuclear.com/news_room/newsrelease.aspx?NR_ID=215
August 15, 2001
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Nancy Morovich
Entergy
nmorovi@entergy.com
(832) 681-3160
Carl Crawford
Entergy
ccrawfo@entergy.com
(601) 368-5658
(866) 494-0485(pager)
Rob Williams
Vermont Yankee
rwill23@entergy.com
(802) 258-4181
Paul Dabbar
JPMorgan
(212) 622-2287
Entergy Will Buy Vermont Yankee for $180 Million
NEW ORLEANS – Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) and the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation have reached an agreement to sell the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, Vt., to Entergy for $180 million.
Vermont Yankee will become Entergy’s 10th nuclear unit and its fifth in the Northeast. Entergy Nuclear has operated five nuclear units in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana for more than 20 years and began buying its properties in the Northeast in 1999.
The $180 million in cash represents $145 million for the plant and related assets and $35 million for nuclear fuel.
"We expect to realize significant operating efficiencies since Vermont Yankee is a sister plant to our Pilgrim plant in Plymouth, Mass., and our FitzPatrick plant in Oswego County, N.Y.," said Wayne Leonard, Chief Executive Officer of Entergy. All three are boiling water reactors designed by General Electric and, as a result, many resources such as inventories and spare parts, best safety practices, group purchasing, specialized technical skills, manpower, key management, and financing can be shared.
Ross Barkhurst, President and Chief Executive Officer of Vermont Yankee, said, "We are pleased to be selling this outstanding nuclear plant to a national leader in nuclear plant operations with a strong track record of safe operations. We are very pleased that the auction process run by JPMorgan has been so successful. We were able to execute the auction on a timely basis with a process which garnered significant interest and clearly maximized the value of the plant."
In addition to paying $180 million, Entergy will retain the plant’s 450 employees at their same salary and comparable benefits.
Entergy will also receive nuclear fuel and all materials and spare parts inventory as well as the plant, switchyard, and related real estate in nearby Brattleboro. Entergy will also assume decommissioning liability for the plant and the plant’s decommissioning trust fund, which is required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. No decommissioning top-off or any other financing by Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation is anticipated with the transaction.
The deal includes a power purchase agreement requiring Entergy to sell all the plant’s power to present Vermont Yankee sponsors through 2012, the remaining years of the plant’s operating license, at average annual prices ranging from $39 to $45 a megawatt-hour.
The agreement includes a "low market adjuster" that protects Vermont Yankee owner-utilities and their power consumers in case power market prices drop significantly. If a prior year’s average market price of power is more than five percent below the annual agreement price for the current year, the agreement price would drop to 105 percent of the previous year’s average market price.
The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Corporation is owned by 12 New England utilities. The largest shareholder is Central Vermont Public Service Corp. in Rutland, Vt., 31.3 percent, and the others are New England Power Co., 22.5 percent; Green Mountain Power Corp., 17.9 percent; Connecticut Light and Power Co., 9.5 percent; Central Maine Power Co. and Public Service Company of New Hampshire, 4 percent each; Burlington Electric Department, 3.6 percent; Cambridge Electric Light and Western Massachusetts Electric Co., 2.5 percent each; Vermont Electric Cooperative, Inc., 1 percent; and Washington Electric Cooperative Inc. and Village of Lyndonville Electric Department, 0.6 percent each.
Entergy Nuclear Chief Executive Officer Jerry Yelverton said the power purchase agreement benefits Entergy as well as New England. "New England power consumers will have a reliable source of electricity with built-in price stability. That reduces our risk and allows us to focus our time and attention on increasing the plant’s capacity factor, achieving cost synergies with other plants, and maintaining the highest level of safe operations."
The sale is subject to the approval of the Public Service Board of Vermont, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and other regulatory authorities. After their approvals, a closing is targeted for the spring of 2002.
Vermont Yankee is the largest power generator in Vermont, producing about 30 percent of the power used by Vermont consumers. With a 510-megawatt capacity, the unit can produce enough power to supply about 500,000 homes.
The plant has been an excellent performer with an average capacity factor of 89 percent over the past 10 years, the second highest of all boiling water power reactors in the nation.
"The men and women of Vermont Yankee have worked hard fulfilling our commitment to a high standard of operations," said Barkhurst, Vermont Yankee’s president. "Entergy’s purchase is a clear indication that our hard work is valued by a nuclear industry leader. Our employees’ culture of excellence will be welcomed by Entergy’s successful national operation."
Yelverton, Entergy Nuclear’s CEO, said Entergy will be committed to high environmental standards and close, supportive relations with local communities, as the current Vermont Yankee owners have been.
Vermont Yankee Chairman Robert Young said, "This agreement preserves the economic benefits that Vermont Yankee provides the state and the region, and the price stability inherent in the purchase power agreement helps protect New England’s electric consumers from the volatility of the electricity market. We look forward to bringing this agreement before our regulators for a thorough review in the coming months."
The plant and related assets will be transferred to Entergy Nuclear Vermont Yankee LLC, an Entergy subsidiary, and will become part of the Entergy Nuclear Northeast fleet.
In addition to the three boiling water reactors mentioned, Entergy also owns and operates the Indian Point 3 unit, purchased from the New York Power Authority last November, and is preparing to close the purchase of the Indian Point 2 plant from Con Edison this fall. Both are Westinghouse pressurized water reactors and located on the same site in north Westchester County, N.Y.
The nuclear businesses of Entergy Corporation are headquartered in Jackson, Miss. As a global energy company, Entergy, based in New Orleans, is the third largest power generator in the nation with more than 30,000 megawatts of generating capacity, about $9 billion in annual revenue and over 2.6 million customers in Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas.
Entergy Nuclear South operates five nuclear units from its regional office in Jackson, Miss. Its newly acquired units are managed from its Entergy Nuclear Northeast regional office in White Plains, N.Y. Entergy Nuclear also manages decommissioning activities and furnishes license renewal engineering services to the U.S. nuclear power industry.
JPMorgan acted as exclusive financial advisor to Vermont Yankee on the sale and has been advisor on the sale of 11 of the last 13 nuclear units sold in the U.S., including Millstone, Nine Mile Point, Indian Point 3, and James A. FitzPatrick.
-30-
Read what the real Rob Williams said in posted press release:
Entergy will also assume decommissioning liability for the plant and the plant’s decommissioning trust fund
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