Senator Markey Demands Safety, Security, Transparency from Pilgrim Owners, Regulators

Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) a member of the Environment and Public Works Committee, and Congressman Bill Keating (D-Mass.) put the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station's current and proposed new owners on notice today, demanding clear details about the safety and security issues involved in the ownership, transfer, and eventual decommissioning of the power plant. In the letter to Holtec and Entergy, Senator Markey and Congressman Keating requested that those companies provide in the application, in addition to other information, all detailed plans for assumption of rights to the Pilgrim Nuclear Decommissioning Trust.

In the letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Markey and Keating additionally call on the NRC to closely examine the application to ensure the transfer of the Pilgrim license is in the public interest, including a guarantee that background radiation at the site shall be below federal standards at ten millirams, that emergency planning funds shall continue to be made available to communities within ten miles of the plant, and that there will be sufficient contingency funds for decommissioning. The members asked for the NRC to provide additional hearings in Massachusetts on the operation and decommissioning of Pilgrim.

"The Pilgrim decommissioning must prioritize safety, security, and the concerns of local stakeholders, and take into consideration the potential cost to ratepayers," write Senator Markey and Congressman Keating. "According to published reports, the current level of the decommissioning trust fund at $1.08 billion may be insufficient to complete safe storage decommissioning (SAFSTOR) over the coming decades. This is troubling. It would be unacceptable to demand additional money from Massachusetts ratepayers, or the American taxpayer, to complete the decommissioning process at Pilgrim."

Senator Markey and Congressman Keating go on to write, "The NRC should hold hearings in Massachusetts at every stage of this license transfer. The voices of those most affected by the Pilgrim decommissioning must be heard. Only with their continued input can we be assured that the Pilgrim decomfund at $1.08 billion may be insufficient to complete safe storage decommissioning (SAFSTOR) over the coming demissioning will proceed with the highest level of safety and security, and stewardship of taxpayer funds."

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