nuclear-news

Nuclear industry lobbying hard to get Pilgrim plant relicensed

 the nuclear industry has been busy making its concerns known in Washington about the Pilgrim delays and what they could mean for other contentious relicensing cases.

Delays in Pilgrim nuclear plant’s relicensing draws the ire of some GOP leaders in Congress Mass. Market, 2012 May 22 by Jon Chesto Massachusetts politicians aren’t the only ones closely watching the fate of the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth. A group of GOP congressmen, led by energy committee chairman Fred Upton, sent a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission  on Monday, essentially scolding the NRC for taking so long with its review of Pilgrim.

Critics of Pilgrim say the commission and the administrative law
judges working on its behalf still have issues to address before the
license can be renewed. ….
The letter takes a few jabs at NRC chairman Greg Jaczko, castigating
him for being willing to make it easier to consider new concerns in
license reviews following the Fukushima disaster in Japan last year.
It might just be coincidence that the letter was sent to Jaczko on the
same day he announced that he would resign . It might not. But this
kind of jab is a good indication of the kinds of friends Jaczko hasn’t
made in high places.
The letter from Upton and his buddies represents a stark contrast to
the letters that Massachusetts politicians of both political parties
have been sending in recent weeks, urging the NRC to delay Pilgrim’s
new license until the lessons learned from Fukushima can be
implemented.
It’s easy to see why Massachusetts politicians would be concerned with
Pilgrim. After all, their constituents are the ones that would have to
face the consequences if a Fukushima-style incident occurred in
Plymouth.
But why would Upton and his friends be so interested? There’s no way
of knowing for sure, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the nuclear
industry has been busy making its concerns known in Washington about
the Pilgrim delays and what they could mean for other contentious
relicensing cases. (The NRC typically takes two to three years on
these, not six-plus.) The industry certainly isn’t just worried about
its outpost on Cape Cod Bay. The Pilgrim relicensing process is the
first nuclear reactor license review to take more than six years – but
there’s a real possibility that it won’t be the last.
http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/massmarkets/2012/05/22/delays-in-pilgrim-nuclear-plants-relicensing-draws-the-ire-of-some-gop-leaders-in-congress/#ixzz1vjuEXHxf

May 23, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | politics, USA