Pilgrim Watch | Pilgrim Coalition

Oct 01

Pilgrim Watch 2012 Update

󰀃Mary Lampert, Pilgrim Watch

󰀓Pilgrim Risks: Accidents and Daily Operations (September 29, 2012)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pilgrim: How Boiling Water Reactors Work 1

Accidents
Spent Fuel Storage -Pool Fires 2
Containment Failure: Vent & Hydrogen Explosions 5
Pilgrim- Electric Reliability 10
Security 11
Emergency Planning 12
Post Accident Cleanup 16

Risks From Daily Operations
Radiation Health Impacts 17
Monitoring 22
Marine Impacts 29

NRC Oversight- Public Participation- Alternatives
NRC Oversight 30
Public Participation 31
Do We Need Pilgrim’s Electric Power? 32

May 14

JRWA & Pilgrim Watch: Third Appeal to NRC

󰀓May 14, 2012: Group Appeal to NRC, Docket 50-293LR

󰀍Jones River Watershed Association, Inc. (JRWA) and 󰀍Pilgrim Watch (PW) today filed a third legal challenge in front of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to Entergy’s once-cooling water withdrawals and pollution of Cape Cod Bay.

Entergy is violating state and federal water pollution control laws; lacks two state approvals that are prerequisites to relicensing; and the PNPS environmental impact statement is invalid. The application for relicensing Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station (PNPS) should, and must, be denied because Entergy cannot satisfy NRC regulations.

JRWA has already filed multiple contentions with the NRC for review of impacts to Cape Cod Bay’s natural resources; and is working with Pilgrim Coalition to encourage state agencies to act. Our senators and representatives are doing what they can to ensure the safety of the people and environment of southeastern MA; but citizen support is still crucial.

This is your opportunity to speak! Please show support for more conscientious oversight and safety fixes of the Pilgrim Power Station. For more information and to get involved, visit:

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May 22

Cape Codders Vote to Close Pilgrim

14 Cape Cod Towns pass a public advisory question to close the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.

CAPE COD, MA – The results are in and Cape Cod residents have spoken. Last night Falmouth, Yarmouth, Brewster, Orleans and Harwich voters passed a public advisory question to call on Governor Patrick to request the Nuclear Regulatory Commission uphold their mandate to close the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station because the public safety of Cape Cod cannot be assured. The success of this campaign had already been achieved in Provincetown, Truro, Wellfleet, Eastham, Chatham, Dennis, Mashpee, Bourne, and Sandwich. Barnstable will be the last Town to conclude the campaign when Barnstable voters speak at the ballot box this fall.

Last October, Massachusetts Emergency Management Director Kurt Schwartz informed Cape Cod residents if a nuclear accident occurred at Pilgrim they will be “in harm’s way” of a radioactive plume. Cape Codders would be relocated because their properties will be so contaminated with radiation and therefore uninhabitable. The Fukushima nuclear disaster in March, 2011 has displaced over 160,000 people from their homes indefinitely. Tom Setzer, an NRC official confirmed at an NRC open meeting last month in Plymouth a catastrophic nuclear accident just like Fukushima could happen at Pilgrim.

Cape Cod voters were clear by voting yes to close Pilgrim. Arlene Williamson, spokes person for Cape Downwinders stated “The risks of a nuclear accident increase every day the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station continues to operate”.

The 41 year old facility has experienced nine automatic shutdowns just this year for leaking valves, leaking pipes, pump failures, power outages and most recently last Monday a fire broke out when turbine auxiliary pumps failed.

Cape Downwinders co-founder Diane Turco, stated “The Pilgrim reactor is recognized by Cape Cod voters as an ongoing imminent threat to their health and safety”. The people of Cape Cod have spoken and now request Governor Patrick, as the Chief Public Safety Officer for the State of Massachusetts, to take action and call on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to close the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth.”

May 09

Worst Week Since Fukushima: 4 Major Setbacks In 3 Days Are Latest Stumbles For U.S. Nuclear Power Industry

Reverse Renaissance? Experts Point to 6 Reactors on the Chopping Block and Passage of Anti-Industry Florida Law; Beleaguered Industry’s Woes Start With Bad Economics … and Go Downhill From There. WASHINGTON, May 8, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ – Call it the “renaissance in reverse.” Not only is…

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May 08

The Naked Truth About Nuclear Accident Insurance

󰀃Miles Benson, linktv.org 󰀍Link TV →

Going without insurance is described as “going naked” in insurance industry lingo. Going without insurance for the worst hazards in the nuclear power industry is business as usual.

One need not look back very far to see the problem. In March 2011, the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster, triggered by an earthquake followed by a tsunami that overwhelmed all of Japan’s safeguards, melted down three reactors, displaced 160,000 people and caused an estimated $250 billion in damages and other still-unfolding economic consequences.

Today, in the United States, we have 104 operating nuclear plants producing electricity. The owners, operators, and government regulators who oversee them say an event like Fukushima will not happen here. And even if it did, they insist, there is enough liability insurance in place to cover the damages. The actual amount of that insurance coverage: just $12.6 billion.

You don’t need an advanced degree in calculus or risk analysis to see that something doesn’t add up, and to start feeling a bit…naked. But when it comes to nuclear insurance, naked is the fashion designed for the American public. Read more of this →

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Apr 12

Newsletter: April 2013

󰀓PC News Update: April 12, 2013 → Cape Downwinders Ballot Initiative / Case for Expedited Transfer of Spent Fuel to Dy Casks / Save Our Bay Flotilla / Ira Wood on Pilgrim / Marshfield Town Meeting To Vote on Nuclear Advisory Committee

Tagged: Pilgrim Watch