Pilgrim relicensing hits new roadblock

[struggle4progress]

By Kathryn Koch
Fri Apr 11, 2008, 07:28 PM EDT

PLYMOUTH - If an earthquake hit the Pilgrim Station nuclear power plant, would the buried pipes that carry radioactively contaminated water withstand the shock of the seismic activity? The answer depends on whether you ask the Pilgrim Watch citizens group or plant owner Entergy Nuclear Operations.

A panel of judges from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s independent Atomic Safety Licensing Board (ASLB) will decide between arguments presented by both sides during more than seven hours of testimony in Plymouth Thursday.

The ASLB judges won’t make a decision, however, or even officially close the hearing for at least two weeks thanks to a ruling handed down Tuesday by the First Circuit Court of Appeals stating the Massachusetts Attorney General’s office has the right to be heard on safety concerns about the treatment of spent fuel rods before the NRC grants new licenses for Pilgrim or the Vermont Yankee plant, also owned by Entergy.

Pilgrim Watch founder Mary “Pixie” Lampert, who has filed a similar motion, said she commends the actions of the Attorney General of Massachusetts to intervene and supports the stay agreed to by the First Circuit Court. Pilgrim Watch had contended that spent fuel rod storage should be considered, but the NRC had ruled storage was outside the scope of the relicensing hearing process ...

http://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/news/business/x1620716619


Public weighs in: Plenty of opinions on relicensing
By Kathryn Koch
Fri Apr 11, 2008, 07:23 PM EDT

... The three-judge panel from the Atomic Safety Licensing Board heard from more than a dozen area residents and interested parties Wednesday night, while hearing the contention of Pilgrim Watch that plant owner Entergy Nuclear Operations doesn’t have an adequate aging management program. No public comment was allowed at Thursday’s evidentiary hearing on the contention, but Wednesday night was the opportunity for people like Plymouth Nuclear Matters Committee Chairman Jeff Berger to air their concerns about extending the plant’s license from 2012 to 2032.

Despite being cautioned by the judges that the kind of topics he raised would be outside the scope of the hearing process, Berger took the NRC to task for failing to take evacuation plans into account during the relicensing process.

“The NRC does nothing to ensure the evacuation plan is current and effective,” he said, arguing evacuation planning should be part of the process. Neither does it consider terrorism, he said.

“There may as well be a large, illuminated red mark on the top of Pilgrim Station,” he said ...

http://www.wickedlocal.com/plymouth/news/business/x450930882