Vermont Yankee site decisions draw criticism as oversight stalls

NDCAP is supposed to meet three times a year, but only one meeting has been held so far, and no future sessions have been set.

A Vermont environmental activist is accusing state and project officials of letting public scrutiny fade just as important decisions are being made about the former Vermont Yankee nuclear plant in Vernon.

Ann Darling, who is with the Citizens Awareness Network, says the decommissioned plant has reached a sensitive stage. The reactor shut down at the end of 2014, and the site is now nearly fully dismantled, but 60 concrete-and-steel casks of highly radioactive waste remain on the property. The land and some of the infrastructure are still in place, and the site’s owner, NorthStar, has leased it to PowerTransitions, a Texas-based energy development company said to be weighing a small modular nuclear reactor, battery storage or a data center.

Darling argues that the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel, known as NDCAP, is not doing enough to keep residents informed. The legislature created the panel to advise state leaders and to help maintain public communication about decommissioning, but she says it has not carried out that role effectively. In her view, meetings have become less frequent and there has been little effort to reach out beyond the small circle of people who already follow the issue.

The lack of scheduling has added to her concern. NDCAP is supposed to meet three times a year, but only one meeting has been held so far, and no future sessions have been set. A planned May 2026 meeting was postponed while officials awaited a report from the state’s contractor on chemical contamination at the site. Darling says PFAS contamination is known to exist, but the extent and location of it have not been made clear.

She is also pressing for answers about the lease arrangement with PowerTransitions. Darling says questions remain about what is included in the agreement, who owns the waste and how decisions are being made about the future of the Vernon property. She says those details have not been explained.

Her criticism comes as Gov. Phil Scott is pushing legislation that would classify nuclear power as clean energy for the purpose of meeting Vermont’s climate targets. She says that view ignores the health and environmental risks of nuclear power and the emissions tied to the full fuel cycle, including mining and waste disposal. She also points to his effort to remove the requirement for a legislative vote before nuclear power could be used again in Vermont, along with his veto of a bill that would have set limits on data centers.

Darling says the combination of delayed meetings, unanswered questions and new policy efforts leaves her distrustful of the state’s handling of the site. She believes officials are not being candid with the public and says Vermonters deserve a clear explanation about contamination, the lease and any long-term plans for the Vernon property.