nuclear-news

AUDIO: crisis of dangerous radioactive trash at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant

it would make sense to just stop producing this  radioactive trash

At Pilgrim — like Fukushima — spent fuel is stored in a pool high above the reactor. Tarantino says the pool contains all the nuclear waste ever produced by Pilgrim’s reactor.

“We have 40 years worth of spent fuel in the reactor building,” Tarantino said. “Fuel has never left the site.”…… Pilgrim is rapidly running of room. In two years there won’t be any space left in the pool and Pilgrim will have to shut down unless a new waste storage site can be built outside of the reactor building….

Workers have already begun constructing a road to transport huge containers — called dry cask storage — out of the reactor building to a special concrete pad nearby. This is this construction that opponents were trying to photograph with their kite camera……

AUDIO http://www.wbur.org/2013/07/10/pilgrim-nuclear-waste-permit Residents Challenge Pilgrim’s Permit For New Nuclear Waste Site By Bruce Gellerman July 10, 2013 PLYMOUTH, Mass. — Since 1972, the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant here has generated prodigious amounts of electricity, tons of radioactive waste and plenty of controversy.

Wednesday night, the debate heats up as the Plymouth zoning board votes on whether to allow Entergy — the plant’s owner — to continue with construction on a new waste storage site. The vote could stall or even stop the nuclear power plant for good.

Security, And Public Scrutiny

A few weeks ago, anti-nuclear activists — with the help from the law firm EcoLaw — flew a kite with a camera over the plant. They wanted to see what Entergy was building on the 1,600-acre site along Cape Cod Bay.

“This is the first time in a long time that citizens have pulled back the blanket of secrecy that has allowed Entergy to operate without much public scrutiny on the local level,” said attorney Meg Sheehan, who was born and raised in Plymouth.

Pilgrim is surrounded by double chain link fences, razor wire, motion detectors and 30-foot guard posts.

If you want to get inside to see firsthand what the kite camera saw, you need special permission. You must agree in advance that any photos you take are cleared by the head of security. And, like all visitors, you must pass a series of checkpoints…….

Running Out Of Room

At Pilgrim — like Fukushima — spent fuel is stored in a pool high above the reactor. Tarantino says the pool contains all the nuclear waste ever produced by Pilgrim’s reactor.

“We have 40 years worth of spent fuel in the reactor building,” Tarantino said. “Fuel has never left the site.”…… Pilgrim is rapidly running of room. In two years there won’t be any space left in the pool and Pilgrim will have to shut down unless a new waste storage site can be built outside of the reactor building….

Workers have already begun constructing a road to transport huge containers — called dry cask storage — out of the reactor building to a special concrete pad nearby. This is this construction that opponents were trying to photograph with their kite camera……

James is the attorney leading the legal effort to require a special permit. He says residents want the concrete pad moved to higher ground because of global warming.

“Nobody knows how much seawater is going to rise. Ten years, maybe not enough. Fifty years, 100 years, 150? No one also knows how long that thing is going to be there,” James Lampert said. “Are those casks going to be under water?”…..

While federal and state governments try to figure out what to do with the nation’s nuclear waste, a local ruling about a concrete pad could determine the fate of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant. Plymouth’s zoning board is set to vote Wednesday night. http://www.wbur.org/2013/07/10/pilgrim-nuclear-waste-permit

July 11, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | USA, wastes