Entergy’s Pilgrim nuclear power station in Plymouth, MA is closer to permanent shutdown principally because of the reactors failing performance, mounting cost of inspecting and maintaining this inherently dangerous post-Fukushima technology and a steadily rising competitive “head wind” of abundant renewable energy.
It is clear to be seen that Pilgrim is in a financial melt down along with its parent company. Entergy’s stock has fallen 30% in the past year. It is of such increasing concern that even the Nuclear Regulatory Commission gave the Fukushima-style reactor the dubious distinction of being one of the most unsafe nuclear power plants in the country.
However, the 43-year old reactor is long overdue for permanent closure for more than its bad economics, failing performance and risky operation. This particular nuclear power station is infamous for being the focus of legislatively mandated epidemiological study conducted by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) published in 1990 and re-published in 1996. The state health department’s case control study investigated the 22 towns in southeastern Massachusetts around the Pilgrim reactor and found a four-fold increase in a rare adult leukemia in the population that worked and resided the closest and the longest to the reactor.
We continue to support the tireless effort of the many citizens and groups who labor to hasten the closure of this dirty, dangerous and expensive nuke. Shut it down, now.