Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant should not be relicensed [View All]

[struggle4progress]

<snip> Whatever the reason for the perceived complacency we should oppose the re-licensing of Pilgrim, one of the oldest and most vulnerable plants in the nation, for many reasons, among them:

A possible terrorist attack or nuclear accident. The National Academy of Sciences in a study mandated by Congress stated unequivocally in 2004 that nuclear power plants are on the terrorists' short list. Those plants designed like Pilgrim are extremely vulnerable. The most vulnerable target is the 1.2 million pounds of densely packed radioactive spent fuel rods stored in the reactor building well above ground level.

The human element. Innumerable accidents have been documented in the life of Pilgrim. Most recently, the Cape Cod Times, July 16, 2005, reported that the U.S. Regulatory Commission fined the owners $60,000 only 13 months after a control room supervisor fell asleep on the job and another worker failed to wake him up!

Inability to evacuate the public. The Hingham League of Women Voters' study reported by Hilary McCarthy in the Hingham Journal Sept. 8, 1983, reported that the town is unprepared for nuclear evacuees. Hingham is only one of many towns in the Pilgrim area with no clear evacuation plans. During the recent hurricanes we witnessed the disastrous attempt to evacuate large numbers of people. <snip>

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/net/2005/10/21/police.on.full.alert.for.friday.s.anti.arroyo.protest.html