Federal regulators have approved plans for Vermont Yankee to shut down its 10-mile emergency planning zone around the shuttered nuclear reactor next year.
Entergy had asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for permission to stop funding the emergency planning zone. The NRC said Thursday that it had approved the changes.
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said plant owner Entergy had to prove that it would be able to contain a radiological release in the spent fuel pool.
Vermont Public Radio reports that Vermont Public Service Department Commissioner Chris Recchia is still concerned about protecting public safety and the environment. Entergy has agreed to pay New Hampshire $279,000 over the next four years for emergency planning, but Vermont has not been able to reach agreement with the company.
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