Massachusetts Lawmakers Criticize NRC Over Pilgrim Decisions

COURTESY PILGRIM NUCLEAR POWER STATION

WASHINGTON – Senators Ed Markey and Elizabeth Warren, and Congressman William Keating are criticizing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week for ignoring state and local concerns regarding the transfer of ownership of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.

The lawmakers blasted the federal regulatory agency for rejecting requests by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Pilgrim Watch to stay re-evaluate the NRC staff’s order approving the license transfer for the Plymouth plant from Entergy to Holtec.

“The residents around Pilgrim and the state of Massachusetts have real and substantive concerns about transferring the nuclear plant from one entity that had one of the worst safety records to another entity that has almost no experience decommissioning a power plant,” Markey said.

“Instead of listening to the people of Massachusetts, the NRC continues to move forward with this license transfer without answering critical questions about safety, security, and funding. It’s time for the Commission to prioritize local issues over industry expediency.”

Warren said federal regulators have once again bypassed the concern of Southeastern Massachusetts and allowed the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to change hands.

“This is a punch in the gut to the people who live, work, and go to school in the area and who have rightly raised safety concerns – and should be heard,” Warren said.

“Once again, technical rules superseded common sense concerns regarding the Pilgrim license transfer, the solvency of the trust fund, and the ultimate fate of spent nuclear fuel,” Keating said.

“Since the Commission has indicated that they can still decide on the issues that prompted this request, they should act with urgency to address the substantive issues that they failed to do with this order.”

The three lawmakers wrote the NRC in August urging the agency to delay its ruling on the proposed license transfer for Pilgrim until it considered and ruled on extant petitions and motions.

The NRC approved the license transfer in late August.

In September, the three lawmakers wrote another letter urging the NRC to reject Entergy and Holtec’s request for the plant to be exempted from safety regulations.

The NRC approved emergency planning changes in November.

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