As legislators on Capitol Hill weigh in on Holtec International’s now-delayed proposal to discharge wastewater from Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station into a nearby bay, local politicians are also chiming in to voice their opposition.
“We will never allow the dumping of radioactive material into Cape Cod Bay,” said state Sen. Susan Moran (D-Plymouth), during a Monday meeting of the Massachusetts Citizens’ Decommissioning Advisory Panel (NDCAP). Moran was among the coalition of state and federal Massachusetts lawmakers who pressured Holtec to walk back its proposal to discharge wastewater from the Plymouth, Mass., nuclear plant into the bay, she said.
Moran’s comments come as Holtec has said that it won’t release any wastewater from Pilgrim into the Cape Cod Bay this year. Despite that, president of the company’s decommissioning branch Kelly Trice said in a Jan. 27 letter that such a practice was still among the “likely” options for disposing of the plant’s contaminated water.
Nuclear power plants regularly discharge wastewater, Trice said, and Pilgrim in particular has been releasing water for its entire 50-year lifespan.
Trice said that Holtec was evaluating all of its options — such as evaporation or offsite transport — but that its final disposal solution would likely include release into the bay. More information on a final plan should be coming later in 2022, she said.
Pilgrim’s proposed wastewater discharge has garnered criticism from both Boston and Capitol Hill. Sens. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) were among a coalition of federal lawmakers who penned a letter to Holtec Jan. 11 urging the company to consider alternate methods for disposal.
Meanwhile, decommissioning work continues at Pilgrim, which Holtec acquired from Entergy in 2018. The Camden, N.J., nuclear services company finished moving the site’s spent fuel inventory into dry storage late last year. Holtec has said it could finish decommissioning Pilgrim by 2027 or so.
