Contact: Eben BurnhamSnyder, Senator Ed Markey, 2022242742

WASHINGTON (August 27, 2013) Senator Edward J. Markey (DMass.) issued the following statement in response to the announcement that the Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station will permanently close in 2014:

"Closing Vermont Yankee reflects the growing realization in New England and around the nation that it is time to move towards a safer, more affordable clean energy future of wind, solar, geothermal, along with wellregulated, domestic natural gas. While nuclear energy was once advertised as being too cheap to meter, it is increasingly clear that it is actually too expensive to matter.

"While the nuclear industry is blaming today's closure on competitive electricity markets, they should be looking into the mirror with the rest of the energy industry. Had the Senate passed the WaxmanMarkey bill in 2009 that would have put a price on carbon, nuclear power today would be better able to compete."

The announcement today marks the planned closure of the fifth nuclear reactor in the past year:

In October 2012, Dominion Resources announced the closure of the Kewaunee Power Station in Wisconsin, citing economic factors related to the price of affordable natural gas.

In February 2013, Duke Energy announced that it would permanently close Florida's Crystal River plant rather than pay for costly repairs.

In June 2013, Southern California Edison announced that it would close the San Onofre Nuclear Generation Station's two reactors rather than pay for costly repairs that resulted from the licensee's apparent effort to avoid regulatory scrutiny.

Additionally, Exelon announced in 2010 that the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station is expected to close permanently in 2019, ten years earlier than previously planned, in part to avoid the installation of costly cooling towers.