The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant has begun a gradual reduction of the electricity that it generates that will end with the plant shutting down in December.
The so-called coast-down period typically occurs at the end of a plant's operating cycle as the nuclear fuel in the reactor is depleted.
Vermont Yankee will update the electric grid dispatcher, ISO-New England, on the plant’s projected output. The updates will allow ISO-New England to ensure there is sufficient electrical generating capability available on the New England grid.
The state's only nuclear power plant has been generating electricity continually since the spring of 2013, a stretch of 500 days.
Entergy Nuclear, Vermont Yankee's owner, made the decision last year to close the plant at the end of the current fueling cycle, December of this year.
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