Dry Cask Storage in Vermont

Vermont Yankee is Vermont’s only nuclear facility and produces a significant amount of the electricity consumed within the state. Although the plant’s license is set to expire in March 2012, the plant faces growing pressures to meet its storage needs in the short-term. Yankee currently utilizes wet pool storage, but at the current rate of production, the plant will run out of pool storage capacity and be forced to shut down in 2008, four years prior to its license’s expiration.  This situation has compelled the Vermont Legislature to consider whether or not to approve the use of an alternative waste storage method called dry cask storage. This report weighs the advantages and risks of dry cask storage as an option in Vermont.