Maine Yankee had 480 full-timers when it closed.

Maine Yankee is owned by a group of utilities and holding companies in New England.

His campaign focused on the need to keep Maine Yankee open.

The regulatory commission said that in the last several years the owners of Maine Yankee have received the Government's highest rating for operating the plant.

Plant executives said today it was too early to determine when Maine Yankee would return to service.

Maine Yankee, which began operating in 1972, supplies about 20 percent of the electricity used in the state.

It has agreed to manage Maine Yankee, a troubled nuclear plant, and other, similar arrangements are expected to follow in the industry.

The referendum Tuesday marks the third vote in seven years on whether to close Maine Yankee, which now generates 27 percent of the state's electricity.

Maine Yankee was planning to close the plant in September to replace the generator because it was not large enough.

But neither Maine Yankee nor any other power reactor can really be fully decommissioned now because there is no place to put spent fuel.