Entergy Vermont Yankee reactor cut to 54 pct

NEW YORK Nov 17 (Reuters) - Entergy Corp's (ETR.N) 620-megawatt Vermont Yankee nuclear power station dipped to 54 percent power by early Tuesday from full power early Monday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.

Vermont Yankee, which entered service in 1972, is located in Vernon in Windham County about 80 miles north of Hartford, Connecticut.

Entergy is waiting for the NRC Commissioners to decide on the company's application to extend the plant's original 40-year operating license for another 20 years. Entergy filed the application in January 2006.

It usually takes the NRC about 22 months to make a decision on renewal without a hearing and about 30 months with a hearing.

The NRC's Atomic Safety and Licensing Board (ASLB) held a hearing and recommended the NRC approve the license extension. The ASLB however wanted Entergy to perform additional analysis on the reactor vessel nozzles before the NRC granted the extension.

Entergy conducted that analysis even though the NRC staff objected to the ASLB request for additional analysis.

One MW powers about 1,000 homes in Vermont.

Entergy, of New Orleans, owns and operates about 30,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes power to 2.7 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich)