Two members of Massachusetts’ congressional delegation on Monday demanded assurance that the planned sale and decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station will not endanger the safety or security of local stakeholders.
Sen. Ed Markey (D) and Rep. Bill Keating (D) made their case in letters to power company Entergy and energy technology firm Holtec International, the plant’s owner and prospective buyer, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which must approve the license transfer.
The companies plan next month to submit the license transfer application to the industry regulator and hope for a decision in 2019. The single-reactor facility on Cape Cod is scheduled to close no later than June 1, 2019. Holtec would assume responsibility for decommissioning, spent fuel management, and site restoration at the site, and would take ownership of Pilgrim’s decommissioning trust fund – which now holds more than $1 billion.
“Regardless of whether the NRC approves or denies this license transfer application, the Pilgrim decommissioning must prioritize safety, security, and the concerns of local stakeholders, and consider potential costs to ratepayers,” Markey and Keating wrote in a letter to executives at Holtec and Entergy. They called for an application “that is of the very highest standard.”
Among components of the application, according to the lawmakers: ensuring a safety approach that improves upon Pilgrim’s record to date and features regular communication with all local stakeholders; demonstrating that decommissioning can be carried out safely with the funding available by 2027, as Holtec plans; specifics of Holtec’s proposed updates to its financial and corporate structure; and additional information on personnel at the plant.
In a letter to NRC Chairman Kristine Svinicki, Keating and Markey called on the agency to keep a close eye on the same issues.
“The NRC has the responsibility to closely examine this application and hold it to a very high standard. First and foremost, the NRC must ensure that the public interest is protected,” according to the letter.
