Going Inside Pilgrim Nuclear

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 04/29/15

Peter Howe reports that the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, Mass., has been generating enough electricity on a typical day to power over 500,000 homes and has been doing so for the past 43 years. Adversarial groups like Pilgrim Watch and Cape Downwinders have argued over and over again, without factual foundation or basis for their fear-mongering, that the Pilgrim plant should be shut down, that no workable plans exist to evacuate Cape Codders over just two bridges should a catastrophic meltdown occur, and that the March 2011 tsunami caused significant damage at the Fukushima power plant in Japan, which is of the same design as Pilgrim and demonstrates how unacceptable the plant risks are. However, none of these claims by Howe have any basis in fact. No one died and no one in or around the plant was exposed to excessive radiation resulting from the Fukushima nuclear plant core meltdown. For discussions of the actual impact caused by the damage to the plants, see Conca, March 16, 2015, and December 3, 2014, Martini, February 17, 2015, and Kenn, February 15, 2015 in I2M Web Portal items below. No deaths and no radiation sickness. The plant has been churning out reliable and carbon-free power, supporting 600 jobs onsite and contributing close to 10 million dollars a year in tax revenues for Plymouth. And this month, Pilgrim is delivering a welcomed stimulus to the regional economy as Entergy Nuclear brings in 1,000 technicians and specialists from all over the country for the regular refueling and maintenance project. The operation is no different from other heavy industry plants. Fukushima has demonstrated that risks can be minimized with minor improvements to ensure the core remains cooled and covered with flowing water.