In an unusual state foray into nuclear regulation, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 Wednesday to block operation of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant after 2012, citing radioactive leaks, misstatements in testimony by plant officials and other problems.

Unless the chamber reverses itself, it will be the first time in more than 20 years that the public or its representatives has decided to close a reactor.

Yet, test results have confirmed the presence of another radioactive substance in soil around the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant.

Cesium-137 is said to be more dangerous than the tritium that plant and state officials have been measuring in groundwater around Vermont Yankee since elevated levels of that isotope were first reported in early January.

The state Health Department says Cesium-137 was confirmed in lab results reported Tuesday on samples taken March 17.

Cesium-137 is a byproduct of nuclear fission and can cancer when ingested in high amounts.

The state reports that concentrations of the substance are up to 12 times higher than the level expected in normal soil, which has been affected by worldwide nuclear weapons testing and the Chernobyl accident in 1986.

Last week, Yankee officials announced that the tritium leaks had been stopped.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/25/us/25nuke.html
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jo7gytGIVNSxu_MnfEbvaelD0zcQD9EP8SRG1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermont_Yankee