NRC Staff Approves Sale of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant

COURTESY PILGRIM NUCLEAR POWER STATION

PLYMOUTH – Staffers at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have approved the sale of the now-shuttered Pilgrim nuclear power plant to Holtec International for decommissioning.

The Boston Globe reported Tuesday that NRC staff concluded Holtec is “financially and technically qualified to own the Pilgrim nuclear power plant and carry out the decommissioning of the facility.”

The approval will become final as long as none of the four NRC commissioners object before a Monday deadline.

Holtec has never owned a commercial nuclear plant, but has said it could clean up the plant and demolish it in eight years instead of the 60 years estimated by owner Entergy.

The Pilgrim nuclear power plant was permanently shut down in May after 47 years of generating electricity. The closure marked the end of nuclear power in Massachusetts.