Activists call for Pilgrim's immediate closure
PHOTO/COURTESY
State Sen. Dan Wolf (D-Hyannis) speaks to crowd calling for the immediate closure of Pilgrim Power Plant on Oct. 22. Its planned closure has left the state looking for other power sources.
Activists who have spent years calling for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station's closure are set to gather in Boston on Friday to mark the five-year anniversary of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station catastrophe and to call for Pilgrim's immediate shutdown.
According to published reports, Japanese officials are still evaluating the extent of the damage in the wake of the plant's meltdown which was triggered by an earthquake and tsunami. The Guardian reported Thursday on "lower radiation levels in and around the plant," better conditions for Tokyo Electric Power Company staff, and "progress in containing huge quantities of radioactive groundwater," but also reported "work on removing the melted fuel - something no nuclear operator has ever attempted - has barely begun."
Locally, activists from Cape Cod and other areas near the Plymouth plant continue to draw comparisons between the designs of the Fukushima and Pilgrim plants and plan to call attention to the massive displacement of people and vast environmental damage and property losses associated with Fukushima.
"What is clear is that the government and TEPCO [Tokyo Electric Power Company], owner of the Fukushima nuclear reactors, have no idea of how to mitigate the ongoing damage," Cape Downwinders wrote in an advisory promoting their plans to remember the victims of Fukushima and remind state residents that US regulators have placed Pilgrim in a category of the worst-performing nuclear plants.
Activists plan to gather near the State House's Hooker Statue at 12:30 p.m. and deliver a letter outlining their concerns to Gov. Charlie Baker's office at 1:15 p.m. The governor is vacationing in Utah.
On Sept. 2, 2015, federal nuclear industry regulators said they would increase oversight of Pilgrim after inspectors raised concerns about findings associated with the performance of a safety relief valve. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's findings stemmed from a special inspection at the plant, which is owned by Entergy, following its unplanned shutdown in January.
On Oct. 13, 2015 Pilgrim officials announced plans to shut down by June 1, 2019, saying their decision was driven by low energy prices, reduced revenues and increased operational costs. Plant owner Entergy said Pilgrim would close by June 1, 2019, with the exact timing to be determined during the first half of 2016 following talks with ISO-New England, the region's electric grid operator.
The loss of baseline power from the plant is a major factor in ongoing energy bill talks on Beacon Hill. Pilgrim began operations in 1972 and generates 680 megawatts of electricity, or enough to power more than 600,000 homes. In a legislative arena marked by heavy lobbying, hydropower, offshore wind, natural gas, and solar power interests are competing for shares of the long-term energy supply mix.
According to ISO-New England, Pilgrim is among the region's largest power plants and one of three remaining nuclear stations in New England. The grid operator estimates nuclear power generated 34 percent of the electricity produced in New England in 2014, with natural gas generating 44 percent of the power. Before Pilgrim announced its plans to close, ISO estimated that more than 3,500 megawatts, or 10 percent of New England's generation, had retired or would retire over the next few years, including mostly oil and coal-fired plants. Of the 11,000 megawatts of proposed new generation, two-thirds would use natural gas and most of the rest would use wind to generate power, ISO said.
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