Pilgrim Nuclear

A meeting of the state panel on the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station became unusually volatile last night, as arguments broke out between the acting chair and others in the room.

A highly anticipated state hearing last night in Plymouth drew some 100 people to give testimony — or witness the testimony of others — on the proposed release of water from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station.

Submerged heaters have been installed inside the reactor at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station and likely increased the release of radioactive tritium into the air, according to a federal inspection report.

The state has scheduled a public hearing before it finalizes a decision on the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s plan to discharge radioactive water into Cape Cod Bay.

This week: The owner of the Pilgrim Nuclear plant is denied a permit to dump a million gallons of wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. Also: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis holds a Cape Cod fundraiser not far from where he sent 49 migrants in a political stunt last fall. And, a local firefighter travels to Canada to fight wildfires—and brings back new techniques.

Yesterday’s draft decision by state regulators to deny the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station a permit to discharge radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay could be subject to a public hearing before the decision is finalized.

In a major victory for Pilgrim watchdogs, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection has denied a permit modification sought by the company decommissioning the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to discharge up to 1.1 million gallons of radioactive wastewater into Cape Cod Bay.

A similar measure made it all the way to Gov. Charlie Baker’s desk last fall, only to be vetoed. Now, activists are hoping for support from Gov. Maura Healey.

The Golden Rule famously sailed toward the Marshall Islands in 1958 hoping to stop nuclear weapons testing. The captain was arrested.

Following the release of Department of Public Health water data from the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, CAI reporter Jennette Barnes talked with marine radiochemist Ken Buesseler, of Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, to learn more about what the results mean. She presented key points from the interview on Morning Edition with host Patrick Flanary.