Vermont Yankee Nuclear Plant Offers Cut Rate Power

MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) - The Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant is
offering cut-rate power to help the state build jobs - and to try
to preserve its own operations.

Plant officials on Tuesday announced the Power for Jobs package
that would reserve 25 megawatts of power from the Vernon plant that
would be made available for economic development projects in
Vermont at 4 cents per kilowatt hour.

The offer comes a day before the Vermont Senate was due to hold
a vote on whether to allow the Vernon reactor to continue operating
beyond the expiration of its current license in 2012.

The aging plant has been beset with problems in recent months.
Since the beginning of the year, engineers have been searching for
the leak of radioactive tritium from pipes on the grounds of the
plant.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)