Sen. Bernie Sanders says the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant should shut down when its license expires in 2012.
Speaking on Vermont Public Radio, the Independent senator said that Vermont Yankee signed a contract with the people of Vermont for 40 years and that means it should close as scheduled in 2012.
His comments come as Vermont lawmakers weigh the relicensing of the Vernon reactor and amid the discovery that the plant is leaking radioactive tritium underground.
The governor and some lawmakers have criticized plant officials and plant owner, New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., for misleading state regulators about underground piping that could carry tritium.
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Tritium has been linked to cancer if ingested in large amounts.
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Information from: WVPS-FM, http://www.vpr.net