On the heels of its characterization of the spectacular cooling tower collapse as “not a safety issue,” Entergy somehow manages to up the Orwellian ante: yesterday’s emergency left the aging Vermont Yankee facility in “safe shutdown mode.”

Imagine VDB’s relief.

Because we’re alarmists here, as you know, the sort who tend to regard “all four steam line valves start[ing] to close, throwing the plant into an emergency shutdown, or scram,” as a red flag. Especially when plant employees have no idea what caused said scram.

But that’s why we look to Entergy to supply our clean, safe nuclear needs: even without a clue as to the cause of the emergency, they understand instinctively that safety is not a factor.

In fact, given that we’re now in “safe shutdown mode,” VDB feels almost safer than we did day before yesterday, when the plant was operating at heightened capacity.

That would be the same heightened capacity that didn’t — and we want to stress did not — have anything to do with the collapse of the “sagging and deformed” tower last week.

No, given the options, VDB is pleased as punch with “safe shutdown mode.” In fact, if a little safe shutdown is good, then certainly a lot of safe shutdown would be better still.

Food for thought in 2012.