Plymouth’s Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant has been operating since Dec. 9, 1972 – that’s forever for a lot of people.
But its license to operate is before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and it’s been awaiting approval since January 2006 and it expires June 8. Entergy, which bought the plant in 1999, is seeking a 20-year renewal.
Last year’s accident/disaster at the Fukushima plant in Japan has stoked opposition to the renewal. Brewster Ladies’ Library will host a forum March 27, at 7 p.m. on “The Dangers of Pilgrim Nuclear Station” and related issues (featuring state Rep. Sarah Peake) and the The Pilgrim Coalition has organized a protest at the plant for Sunday, March 11, at 1 p.m.
Two weeks ago CIRenew hosted a forum on the plant at Cape Cod Community College, where state Sen. Dan Wolf spoke against renewing the license.
Nuclear power in New England
The electric grid in Massachusetts and the region is managed by ISO New England. ISO spokesman Carolyn O’Connor explained that they ensure available power and demand are in balance and that without New England’s five nuclear plants, “significant transmission investment and/or new resources would be needed.” All told there’s 32,000 megawatts of electricity available and the one-day record for demand is 28,130 mw set Aug. 2, 2006.
The nuclear plants in Vermont (Yankee, 604 mw), Seabrook, N.H. (1,245 mw), Millstone 2 and 3 in Connecticut (2,102) and Pilgrim in Plymouth (677 mw) provide a combined capacity of 4,628 mw.
“Nuclear does supply significant capacity,” O’Connor said. “It’s relatively low-priced energy, operating all the time except for refueling. It has high availability rates.”
In 2010 the plants produced 30-percent of the region’s energy. Ten year’s earlier it was 31-percent. In contrast, oil plants, which provided 22-percent of New England’s power in 2000 produced less than half a percent two years ago. Low-priced natural gas’s contribution jumped from 15-percent to 46 in the same time frame.
“The New England region is moving away from oil in a big way,” O’Connor explained. “Nuclear is pretty constant with around 5,000 megawatts of power. We see the reliance on natural gas as a risk for New England. We want to work with stakeholders and the government to sort that out.”
The worries
“Can Fukushima happen here?” asked Mary Lampert of Pilgrim Watch. “My opinion is it can.”
Pilgrim has the same general design as Fukushima (GE Mark I boiling water reactor). In an accident Pilgrim would depend on generators located close to the water, fuel tanks and cables buried beneath the ground in moist conditions and only seven days of fuel.
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