Voters in Eastham, Massachusetts, the site of the decommissioned Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, voted overwhelmingly in favor of asking Gov. Charlie Baker to amp up security at the plant.
The NRC “hasn’t heard anything” from Eastham, spokesman David McIntyre wrote in an email Thursday. He added that the Atomic Energy Act gives the NRC — not state governments — jurisdiction over safety and security at nuclear power plants.
“We are confident that, under our oversight, Pilgrim has the appropriate level of security for a plant in decommissioning status,” he said.
In a local election held Tuesday, around 1,000 voters in the pop. 4,900 town agreed to “direct the local government to request that Governor Baker and the State Legislature employ all means available” to ensure that:
- Spent nuclear fuel is secured in better quality dry casks and hardened, on-site storage; and
- Spent fuel pool and casks are protected with heightened security at the decommissioned Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant to prevent intrusion in order to protect the health, welfare, and economic interests of the Town of Eastham and its inhabitants and visitors.
The town’s planning board passed the ballot measure at a meeting Sept. 26, citing concerns over national security and radioactive contamination “rendering our communities uninhabitable” in the instance of a terrorist attack targeting the casks, for example.
While state governments may have more sway than local governments in issues surrounding nuclear storage facilities, the bulk of regulatory decisions come from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees the decommissioning of nuclear power plants.
Holtec International acquired the plant from Entergy in August 2019 and plans to complete decommissioning by 2027.
