MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) – Vermont Public Interest Research Group released a document Thursday that shows workers at a Massachusetts nuclear plant don’t want to be associated with the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant because of concerns about how it is run.

Meanwhile, the Douglas administration has joined the state’s congressional delegation in calling for an independent safety assessment of the Vernon reactor.

VPIRG’s clean energy advocate, James Moore, said he discovered the two-month old document while searching through files of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“It was hiding in broad daylight,” Moore said.

The document is a request by a union that represents workers at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station near Plymouth, Mass., to participate in Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearings about whether its owner Entergy Nuclear should be allowed to transfer ownership of the plant and five others – including Vermont Yankee – to a new company.

Attorneys for the Utility Workers of America, AFL-CIO, Local 369, said the transaction being proposed by Entergy Nuclear would more closely align Pilgrim with Vermont Yankee.

“Local 369 members currently employed at the PNPS could suffer harm to their career prospects if other potential employers came to view PNPS operations as similar to those at Vermont Yankee,” said the document, which was dated Sept. 18.

Entergy is seeking to create a new company that would own six power stations, including Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim. At the same time, Entergy is seeking to extend Vermont Yankee’s operating license for 20 years beyond its current 2012 expiration.

Vermont’s congressional delegation is calling for the safety assessment before any extension is granted. And now, Gov. Jim Douglas is joining the call as well.

Public Service Commissioner David O’Brien said the August collapse of a cooling tower at Vermont Yankee played a role in the decision to support the safety assessment.

“It’s safe to say the public’s confidence level in the plant has been shaken,” said O’Brien.

The goal of an assessment would be to resolve all questions about the plant’s operation. “If the plant is operating at a high level of safety, the report will show that,” O’Brien said. “If it’s anything less than that – well, we need to know that, too.”

AP-ES-11-15-07 1727EST