UPDATE 4-Entergy to fight for Vermont Yankee reactor survival

* Entergy to spend about $100 million to refuel reactor

* Entergy wants to keep reactor running until 2032

* Vermont wants reactor to shut in 2012
(Adds background)

By Scott DiSavino

NEW YORK, July 25 (Reuters) - Entergy Corp (ETR.N) said on
Monday it will refuel the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant
and fight to keep it running for another 20 years until 2032
when its new operating license expires.

Vermont's Governor, Peter Shumlin, who led the state
legislature's effort to shut the 620-megawatt plant in 2010
when he was President of the Senate, wants the 39 year old
reactor to shut next year when its old license was to expire.

After winning a 20 year extension of its operating license
from federal regulators in March, New Orleans-based Entergy,
the No. 2 nuclear power operator in the United States, in April
sued in federal court to block the state from shutting the
reactor next year. The trial is scheduled for mid-September.

"Our board believes both the merits of the company's legal
position and the record strongly support its decision to
continue to trial scheduled to begin on Sep. 12. On that basis,
the decision was made to move forward with the refueling as
planned," J. Wayne Leonard, Entergy's chairman and chief
executive officer, said in a release.

The refueling, expected to start in October, will cost
Entergy about $100 million - $65 million for the new uranium
fuel and about $35 million for the refueling activities, the
company has said.

During a typical refueling outage, which lasts about 30
days, Entergy said workers will replace about 120 fuel
assemblies, or one-third of the fuel in the reactor core.

If Entergy is not successful in court and the reactor does
shut, it would be the first U.S. nuclear plant to retire from
service since 1998 when the 660 MW Unit 1 at Millstone in
Connecticut closed.

ISO New England, which oversees the six-state New England
power grid, has said shutting Vermont Yankee in 2012 could
threaten the reliability of the electric grid in parts of
Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. The plant represents
55 percent of the state's generating capacity.

The ISO is working with local power companies to bolster
the transmission grid in case the reactor shuts next year.

Business groups in Vermont meanwhile are worried power
prices will rise if the reactor shuts.

VERMONT IS UNIQUE

Vermont is the only state in the nation with a say on
whether a nuclear reactor within its borders can continue
operating.

Nuclear safety is a federal responsibility and the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has already determined in
March 2011 that Vermont Yankee was safe to run for another 20
years until 2032, but the state still wants it shut.

When Entergy bought the reactor for $180 million from New
England utilities in 2002, the company agreed to seek
permission from state regulators before operating the plant
beyond March 21, 2012, when its original license expired.

After a radioactive tritium leak in 2010 hurt Entergy's
efforts to convince state politicians to allow Vermont Yankee
to continue operating for another 20 years, Entergy filed the
complaint in federal court.

Other states, like New York, wish they had that kind of
power over nuclear plants within their borders.

In neighboring New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Attorney
General Eric Schneiderman are using water permits and fire
codes in an attempt to stop the 20-year renewal of the
operating licenses of Entergy's 2,045-MW Indian Point reactors,
which expire in 2013 and 2015. [ID:nN1E76J1D1]

Indian Point is located about 45 miles north of Manhattan
in the nation's most heavily populated metropolitan area - home
to more than 18 million people - where the plant's opponents
say even the most unlikely chance of an accident is too much.

Some state politicians and environmental groups have been
fighting for decades to shut Indian Point, but have been
stymied by federal regulators who say the plant is safe.

But since the March 11 earthquake that crippled Japan's
Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, relicensing Indian Point and
other U.S. reactors has become even more contentious.

The NRC staff however has already determined Indian Point
is safe to run for another 20 years. But it will take months
before the NRC's judicial arm starts to hold hearings on the
dozen or so contentions already filed against the renewal and
likely years before the commission decides on the license
extension after considering all the numerous expected appeals.

The NRC has never denied an application to extend a
license, having already renewed licenses for 71 of the nation's
104 reactors, including Vermont Yankee.
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PLANT BACKGROUND/TIMELINE
STATE: Vermont
COUNTY: Windham
TOWN: Vernon
OPERATOR: Entergy Nuclear
OWNER(S): Entergy Corp
CAPACITY: 620 MW
UNIT(S): General Electric Boiling Water Reactor
FUEL: Nuclear
DISPATCH: Baseload
COST: $183 million
TIMELINE:
1972 - Reactor enters commercial service
2002 - Entergy buys reactor for $180 million from

Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power and enters a

10-year power purchase agreement to sell power

back to the former owners for about 4.5 cents

per kilowatt hour
Jan 2006 - Entergy files with NRC to renew the original

40-year operating license for an additional 20

years
Jan 2010 - Entergy identifies tritium leak
Feb 2010 - Vermont Senate votes 26-4 against authorizing

the Vermont Public Service Board to issue a

certificate of public good that would allow for

the license renewal. Vermont is the only state

in the nation with the authority to block a

license renewal. The state gained that

authority when Entergy bought the plant
Mar 2010 - Entergy stops tritium leak
Nov 2010 - Entergy mulls sale of Vermont Yankee
Mar 2011 - NRC approves of 20 year extension of operating

license
Mar 2011 - Entergy drops plan to sell plant
Apr 2011 - Entergy files complaint in federal district

court in Vermont to block the state from

forcing the plant to cease operation in March

2012 when the original operating license was to

expire
Jul 2011 - Entergy decide to spend about $100 million to

refuel the reactor in October ($65 million for

the fuel and $35 million for the refueling

work)
Sep 2011 - Trial in federal district court before the

Honorable J. Garvan Murtha decided not to to

block state from shutting reactor
Oct 2011 - Entergy expects to shut reactor for refueling
Mar 21, 2012 - Reactor to shut unless state approves of

extension or Entergy wins court case to keep

reactor operating or court appeals keep plant

alive
Mar 2032 - Renewed license expires
(Editing by John Picinich)