AMERICAN LEFT HISTORY

This space is dedicated to the proposition that we need to know the history of the struggles on the left and of earlier progressive movements here and world-wide. If we can learn from the mistakes made in the past (as well as what went right) we can move forward in the future to create a more just and equitable society. We will be reviewing books, CDs, and movies we believe everyone needs to read, hear and look at as well as making commentary from time to time. Greg Green, site manager

Monday, February 22, 2016

Sunday February 28th-Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant: Status and Future

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant: Status and Future

When: Sunday, February 28, 2016, 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm

Where: Eliot Church of Newton • 474 Centre Street (just off exit 17 of Mass Pike) • Newton

Last November's ballot in the City of Newton included a non-binding referendum calling for the shutting down of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant. The official final referendum results were:
A) Yes    6168   69%
B) No 2189  31%
Weeks before the referendum, the plant operator (Entergy) announced that it planned to shut down the plant by June, 2019 - which was "only" less than 4 years away.  Many Newton voters probably presumed that this was a moot question and didn't bother to vote to close the plant. It is reasonable to suspect that the  69% 'Yes' vote would have been even higher without Entergy's announcement. In addition, in line with the overwhelming referendum results, the Newton City Council has called upon the Governor and the state Congressional Delegation to urge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to close the Pilgrim Plant as soon as possible.
The blizzard that hit The Cape recently, demonstrated yet again, how lax the operation of the plant is and why it is still necessary to keep up the pressure to get the plant closed as soon as possible. Entergy (the operator) apparently had no plans for an emergency shut down of the plant even as the blizzard was bearing down on its location. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission was apparently unaware of the impending blizzard until a Dennis resident and activist called them to verify that the plant was going to be shut down in anticipation of the storm. (See her story below. ) Nonetheless, Entergy tweeted

In preparation for Storm Mars, @PilgrimNuclear made the conservative decision to take the plant off line. Safety is our first priority.

Newton Dialogues will be presenting a program on that "Status and Future of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant" on February 28 at 4:00pm-5:30pm at the Eliot Church in Newton Corner. We will have presentations by Guntram Mueller of Mass Downwinders (who led the drive for last November's resolution in Newton) and Diane Turco of Cape Downwinders (who has been active establishing and leading the efforts of Cape residents to get the plant closed).
See http://capedownwinders.info for more information about the long standing efforts of Cape Code residents to close the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in light of ongoing evidence of sloppy operation, almost non-existent regulation by the NRC, and the serious danger this plant presents.

AGAIN A Roll of the Dice
Early last Saturday evening as we prepared to hunker down for the approaching winter storm, Dennis resident and Cape Downwinder Susan Carpenter become increasingly concerned. The TV news reports downgraded the weather from a severe winter storm to a blizzard. Mars, as the storm was named, was going to pound the east coast of Massachusetts, particularly the South Shore. Susan contacted NRC public relations staffer Neil Sheehan and asked if Entergy would be closing Pilgrim or would the NRC demand so given the storm dimensions. Mr. Sheehan, unaware of the oncoming blizzard, reassured Susan that all was safe. Four hours later, Susan received an email from the Mr. Sheehan reporting that the reactor was being shut down in anticipation of the storm.
A shutdown during a storm accentuates the fact that Entergy cannot guarantee successful mitigation of problems. It is not only a weather event that may initiate a scram. Last February after the preemptive shutdown before the Valentine Day storm, Entergy had problems during restart. Pilgrim was shutdown and closed for repairs once again. After last year's refueling, Entergy had equipment problems with the restart and Pilgrim was offline for almost another week. Entergy's history has shown that problems and complications occur with restart and are a cause for serious safety concerns.
Must we rely on citizen activists like Susan to alert the NRC officials? Stop gambling with a degraded and dangerous nuclear reactor. What she and concerned citizens across the Commonwealth rightly demand of the NRC, as a precautionary preemptive action, is to close Pilgrim NOW.
Must we rely on citizen activists like Susan to alert the NRC officials? Stop gambling with a degraded and dangerous nuclear reactor. What she and concerned citizens across the Commonwealth rightly demand of the NRC, as a precautionary preemptive action, is to close Pilgrim NOW.
read Cape Cod Bay Watch report here>>> http://www.capecodbaywatch.org/2016/02/powerful-winter-storm-causes-preemptive-shutdown-at-pilgrim/
NRC report here>>>http://files.ctctcdn.com/4ef44f21401/ac995413-fc94-4435-b1cc-bd4c0586e593.pdf

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