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Residents demand NRC block radioactive water release into Cape Cod Bay, improve security

Henrietta Cosentino, a member of the state's Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel, spoke at a Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting in Plymouth on Monday.
Jennette Barnes
/
CAI
Henrietta Cosentino, a member of the state's Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel, spoke at a Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting in Plymouth on Monday.

Local residents demanded a safer decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station this week at a U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission meeting in Plymouth.

The agency hosted the meeting — one of several around the country — to explain new rules proposed for the decommissioning of nuclear power plants.

Leslie Danielson of Plymouth was one of many residents to speak against the possibility of Pilgrim owner Holtec releasing radioactive water into Cape Cod Bay.

“Cape Cod Bay and the Atlantic Ocean do not belong to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and do not belong to Holtec,” she said. “It is not yours to approve any dumping into.”

Three days earlier, Kris Singh, the CEO and founder of Holtec, pledged not to release the water unless “major stakeholders,” including Sen. Ed Markey and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, agree. But residents remain concerned that a million gallons of water containing radioactive elements could eventually end up in the bay.

Joanne Corrigan of Plymouth said people don’t want to see local seafood contaminated.

“What the fishermen are worried about, and all of us are worried about, is … radioactive elements settling into the sand, into the krill, into the plankton and everything else that fish consume,” she said.

Singh contends the water would be treated and should not be classified as contaminated.

The rule changes proposed by the NRC are not related to the water. Some would reduce requirements for emergency preparedness, physical security, and cybersecurity at decommissioned plants.

The agency says the changes are warranted and save money.

But some residents argue that safety is already a problem.

Henrietta Cosentino, a Plymouth Select Board appointee to the state’s Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel, said security at Pilgrim is already a significant concern — especially with casks of spent nuclear fuel sitting within view of Rocky Hill Road.

“It is unprotected,” she said. “It is visible from the air. It's visible from the road. It is highly, highly vulnerable to bad actors.”

Jim Cantwell, state director for U.S. Senator Ed Markey and a former state legislator from Marshfield, read Markey’s statement on the NRC rules.

Markey called for the rules to be thrown out in favor of something stronger on safety.

He said the agency needs to rebut the “popular belief that the NRC is a captured agency,” meaning operating for the benefit of industry.

Jennette Barnes is a reporter and producer. Named a Master Reporter by the New England Society of News Editors, she brings more than 20 years of news experience to CAI.