By Guy Page

Former Vermont governor Howard Dean is warning that proposals to expand nuclear power and attract large-scale data centers risk creating long-term environmental and economic problems for the state.

In a letter published April 20 by VTDigger, Dean – a Burlington resident- argued Vermont is “being sold two bad ideas on energy,” citing concerns about radioactive waste and limited job creation tied to data center development.

While governor from 1991-2003, Dean oversaw the sale of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, then partially owned by Vermont utilities, to Entergy in 2002. 

The plant closed in 2014, following a determined effort by the Vermont Legislature to not renew its operating license. It has been largely decommissioned. Casks of spent fuel fuel are stored on the former plant site in Vernon.

In his April 20 letter, Dean pointed to the existing nuclear waste stored in southern Vermont as evidence of an unresolved problem. Expanding nuclear generation without addressing long-term storage “makes no sense,” he said, warning of potential environmental risks if containment systems fail over time.

Dean’s letter does not reference the growing interest in recycling spent fuel, AKA radioactive waste, in the energy industry and the federal government. 

For example, the U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Nuclear Fuel Recycling program (May, 2025) looks to broaden domestic fuel supplies to accelerate the deployment of advanced reactors for national security and prove fundamental technological viability under DOE’s authority to faster research, development, and demonstration in nuclear material recycling technologies to reinvigorate the U.S. nuclear industry base.  

Nor does Dean acknowledge the greatly reduced amount of waste generated by new, small, ‘modular’ nuclear reactors. 

The former governor also criticized regional energy policy, including the role of ISO New England, which he said does not always prioritize Vermont’s renewable resources. He blamed rising electricity costs in part on broader system inefficiencies and federal policies he said have constrained renewable development.

Dean took aim at proposals to recruit large data centers to Vermont, describing them as land-intensive projects that generate relatively few permanent jobs. Drawing on examples from Loudoun County, Virginia, he said such facilities create short-term construction work but limited long-term economic benefit while placing heavy demands on energy infrastructure.

The debate comes amid growing electricity demand in New England, driven in part by electrification and the expansion of artificial intelligence technologies, which require significant computing power.

While Dean emphasized the risks of nuclear energy, some energy analysts and industry advocates argue newer approaches to managing spent fuel could change the equation. Technologies under development in the U.S. and in limited use internationally – notably in relatively energy-independent France – allow for the recycling or reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, extracting additional energy and significantly reducing the volume and longevity of high-level waste requiring permanent storage.

Supporters say such systems could address one of nuclear power’s most persistent challenges by turning what is now considered waste into usable fuel, potentially reducing the need for long-term storage near waterways like the Connecticut River. Critics, however, note that reprocessing raises cost, regulatory, and proliferation concerns and has not been widely adopted in the United States.