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Nuclear Plant Reduces 10-Mile Emergency Planning Zone

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant
Courtesy NRC and Entergy Corp.
Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant

A now-closed nuclear power plant in Vermont will no longer notify surrounding communities of emergencies.
The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon will reduce its emergency planning zone beginning on Tuesday to include only the plant's boundary.

Vermont Public Radio reports the zone covers communities in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts located within 10 miles of its reactor.

A plant spokesman says the reactor is not operational and the odds of an accident are greatly reduced.

An official with the state Division of Emergency Management and Homeland Security says numerous risks still remain.

Vermont Yankee permanently closed last year after operating for more than four decades. Entergy officials have said the plant wasn't economically viable with New England's energy market becoming dominated by generators using cheap natural gas.

Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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