UPDATED 7:48 AM EST, January 14, 2013
The New Orleans-based Entergy Nuclear Operations Inc. brought the issue to court. The utility won a decision last January in which a federal judge in Brattleboro, Vt., ruled that safety issues are the sole responsibility of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In 2011, that panel had extended the license for Entergy's Vermont Yankee plant by 20 years. Without the judge's ruling, the plant could have been forced to close on March 21, when state approval expires.
