Holtec International’s plan to dispose of a Massachusetts nuclear power plant’s irradiated wastewater meets regulatory requirements, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission told the head of a local town council in a recent letter.
Holtec’s license with NRC allowing it to decommission Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station requires the company “to ensure that the releases of gaseous and liquid effluents” meet the agency’s standards as well as those set by the Environmental Protection Agency, Jane Marshall, director of NRC’s decommissioning, uranium recovery and waste programs, told Barnstable, Mass., town council president Matthew Levesque in a letter dated May 12 and made public Friday.
“The controlled release of effluents within specified limits is part of normal nuclear facility operations, and the NRC’s regulations and licensing reviews for the facility consider such releases during the NRC’s safety and environmental reviews,” Marshall said. “Further, NRC regulations require [Holtec] to maintain radiological releases as low as reasonably achievable, which results in actual impacts far below regulatory limits.”
Among other regulatory safeguards, NRC requires Holtec to run a radiological environmental monitoring program (REMP) that monitors radiation levels in Pilgrim’s surrounding environment, Marshall said. The company is also required to submit an annual radiological operating report and a report detailing its water discharges.
Marshall sent the letter after Levesque raised concerns to NRC in a February letter about the environmental impacts of Holtec’s decommissioning work at the Plymouth, Mass., Pilgrim plant, including its effects on the coastal economy and local fishing industries.
Decommissioning at Pilgrim has come under scrutiny in recent months, particularly due to Holtec’s proposal to release the plant’s wastewater into the nearby Cape Cod Bay. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), a staunch opponent of the plan, got Holtec CEO Kris Singh to commit not to release any water without stakeholder consent.
The company has already said that it would not discharge wastewater in 2022 while it reviews other disposal pathways including evaporation and offsite storage, but has cautioned that such a release would “likely” be part of any final plan in addition to those backup options.
Kelly Trice, president of Holtec’s decommissioning branch, defended the practice in a Jan. 27 letter, saying that wastewater discharges were safe and normal for nuclear power plants under decommissioning.
Meanwhile, some opposition to Holtec’s plan remains in the Bay State. A proposed bill working its way through the state house in Boston would, if it became law, block the company from discharging Pilgrim’s wastewater.
