Pilgrim foes to demand plant’s closure

By Sean F. Driscoll

Posted Jan 7, 2018

Opponents of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station will hold a “speakout” and deliver a letter to Gov. Charlie Baker at 2 p.m. today, calling for him to use his authority to demand the Nuclear Regulatory Commission revoke the plant’s operating license following an emergency shut down during the Jan. 4 snowstorm, according to a statement from the Cape Downwinders.

The shutdown, known as a “scram,” occurred because of loss of offsite power, according to Entergy Corp., the plant’s owner.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the federal agency that oversees the nation’s 99 nuclear reactors, has reduced the number of resident inspectors at Pilgrim from three to two, despite the plant’s classification as one of the three worst performers in the country. Federal regulations require two resident inspectors from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at every nuclear reactor; the NRC boosted the number at Pilgrim to three in 2015 due to its poor performance.

Pilgrim is set to permanently shut down May 31, 2019.

“The decision to close Pilgrim should be a public safety issue not a business decision,” Diane Turco, director of Cape Downwinders, said in the statement. “The recent scram highlights the continuing risk Entergy is willing to take at our expense. Pilgrim should be the poster child for public safety and closed now, not in 2019.”

For more information on the speakout, visit capedownwinders.info.

http://www.capecodtimes.com/news/20180107/pilgrim-foes-to-demand-plants-closure