In the end, it wasn’t even close.

Despite pleas from Entergy Corp to extend the license for their troubled Yankee nuclear reactor for an extra 20 years, the Vermont Senate voted 26 to 4 not to extend.

The decision was influenced by many factors including: “radioactive leaks, misstatements in testimony by plant officials and other problems.” More tritium leaks just this past January didn’t help Entergy’s case that the Yankee plant was “safe, clean and reliable”.

“The place was designed for 40 years,” nuclear engineer turned industry watchdog Paul Blanch told the Vermont Senate Natural Resources Committee. He testified before another committee, “It’s unacceptable to me to imagine that plant running for another 20 years.”

The New York Times painted the scene:

In a small, ornate chamber packed with plant opponents, the state lawmakers voiced frustration over recent leaks of radioactive tritium at the 38-year-old plant as well as the collapse of a cooling tower in 2007 and inaccurate testimony by the plant’s owner, the Louisiana-based nuclear operator Entergy. Plant officials had testified under oath that there were no underground pipes at Vermont Yankee that could leak tritium, although there were.

Shut-down, slap-down or melt-down?

Nuclear had been on a roll this month, with President Barack Obama announcing $8.3 billion in loan guarantees… for two nuclear reactors to be built in Burke County, Georgia, and his budget providing more than $50 billion in loans and guarantees to the industry.

Below: Watch President Obama give a speech to an audience at The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers training facility in Lanham, Maryland

This is already being reported as a slap-down for the Obama administration, with the Christian Science Monitor saying “This could be a blow for the Obama administration’s plan to refurbish and revive aging nuclear power plants.”

“The Vermont Senate’s vote today to close the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant underscores the folly of the Obama administration’s plan to help the nuclear industry build new reactors throughout the country,” said Tyson Slocum, director of Public Citizen’s Energy Program, in a statement. “With so many cost-effective energy alternatives available, such as wind and solar power, continued support for expensive, flawed and dangerous nuclear technology is unacceptable.”

The bad news: Vermont is the only state that requires its legislature to vote on relicensing. All other states allow the process to be handled by state regulators or the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which have tended to be much friendlier to industry. Nineteen reactors are currently up for extension; a total of thirteen power plants have either been decommissioned or are in the process of shutting down.

But the Huffington Post adds,

The vote may not be the final word. Lawmakers could come back next year – after the November elections – and reverse themselves.

(Additional reporting by Jeremy Bloom)