The owner of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station has provided new data on potential air pollution from the plant in response to the state’s determination that its previous report was not sufficient.
In a letter to the Department of Environmental Protection, Holtec gives details of pollutants not included in its previous letter in March. The new letter, dated April 22, shows measurements of non-radiological materials in water evaporating from the reactor process.
Among them are acetone, boron, nitrogen, potassium, oil, and zinc.
Seth Pickering, a deputy regional director at the Department of Environmental Protection, described the results at last week’s meeting of the state advisory panel on Pilgrim.
“Based on Holtec's analysis, the potential to emit pollutants regulated by MassDEP is 26.94 pounds per year, which is well below MassDEP's air quality permitting threshold of one ton or 2,000 pounds per year,” he said in a prepared statement.
He said the calculations appear to be done correctly, but the state is still reviewing the information.
DEP had requested the initial analysis of potential air emissions in February. At a meeting of the Pilgrim panel in March, Pickering called Holtec’s first response “inadequate at this point.”
At the time, Holtec said the materials had no potential to be part of air emissions from the plant.
The company also said it was not including radionuclides because they are regulated by a federal authority, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
Separately, Holtec has agreed to conduct a fresh round of testing for radionuclides in the water, and the testing will include more radionuclides than similar testing last year.
Collection of water samples for the testing is scheduled for June 4.
The company is decommissioning the Pilgrim nuclear plant using money from a trust, funded by electric ratepayers.
