Slow Times in Vermont

I am a self-employed construction worker and an economic refugee from Vermont, having been forced a few years back to sell my house there to pay taxes. At that time, I was told to look for work in Jay, Vt., by someone who explained that there was a lot going on up there. I investigated and found nothing other than the ski area. No booming “Free Trade Zone,” that is for sure. No “biomedical facility” under construction.

Referencing the usual online source, I find that there are six jobs for carpenters advertised for the entire state of Vermont at this time. None of them are in Jay. What Jay does have, aside from lots of vacant real estate for sale, are a few anonymous postings for common hotel worker positions that require blind applications. If you try to seek employment at Jay Peak via its website, the way you would at Killington or Okemo, good luck, for it is only intended as a marketing tool and offers access for no other purpose. As for Burke, and the “Q Burke” development, I would ask, what, pray tell, is that? An unopened hotel in the Northeast Kingdom.

On the whole, I would say it is a good thing that Gov. Shumlin has chosen to retire from public service this year. The INS EB-5 program, inasmuch as it offers to sell green cards in return for investment, is tailor-made for con artists seeking to take advantage of foreigners with more money than sense.

Gov. Shumlin should have known better than to lend his reputation and that of his office to a globetrotter from Miami. Sadly, it would now seem that the cause he served had no more substance than his “single-payer” health plan. His efforts to achieve school consolidation have not gotten far. Neither has his campaign to legalize marijuana in a state overwhelmed by substance abuse. But at least he can take solace in the fact that this latter initiative is alive. For that, we should wish him farewell.

Tyler P. Harwell

New London

The Lessons of Chernobyl

Your story (April 27) on the 30th anniversary of the horrific accident at the Chernobyl (No. 4) reactor was a good summary, but left out why it happened. The Soviet bloc had many reactors of that design, with years of successful operation. The causes of the accident were operator error and a fatal design trap.

The worldwide nuclear industry has tried to learn from other technologies. In airplane accident investigation, there is a class of accidents in which “There was nothing wrong with the plane. The pilot just flew it into the mountain.” Operators of complex systems sometimes “get their heads turned around” due to pressures, schedule delays and other things. That is what happened at Chernobyl.

There has been misinformation about doing “an experiment.” They were repeating an “engineering test” on the regulator for the electrical generator, after a modification. That explains the casual attitude going into the test — they were doing something they had successfully done before. The reactor was expected to operate normally.

Due to delays, they fell into the design trap. Those reactors had switches that allowed the operators to block the automatic safety shutdowns.They used those switches and got the reactor into an unsafe condition, which resulted in the accident.

Sometimes the only thing that will get the job done is to have people work in high-radiation areas. Overexposing them is not acceptable, so more people are used. This is done everywhere, and was done at Fukushima, too. This explains the 600,000 “liquidators.”

This tragedy can’t be repeated, since no other land-based reactors have that design trap.

Howard Shaffer

Enfield

Good Care at the VA

I want to give a big “shout out” to the folks at the VA Medical Center in White River Junction.

I recently moved back to Bradford, Vt., from New Mexico to be closer to my kids and grandkids. I retired from the U.S. Forest Service.

The White River Junction VA had been my place for medical care before I left some seven years ago. Upon my recent return, much to my amazement I got a doctor’s appointment right away. I was shocked to be seen so fast considering all the bad press VA hospitals have been getting across the country.

The folks in White River Junction have not skipped a beat in their care for veterans, at least in my opinion.

I spent seven years at the Albuquerque, N.M., VA and their care was also very proactive. Great folks, great doctors and nurses.

Thank you, White River Junction VA Hospital!

Jeffrey Dube

Bradford, Vt.