Attorney General Healey urges Congress to step up safety at nuclear power plants
Healey calls for better security at decommissioned sites and sites like Pilgrim that store spent fuel
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Keeping in stride with her predecessor, Attorney General Maura Healey has called upon Congress to increase the safety at the country's nuclear power plants, particularly those that are decommissioned and those that store spent fuel. In a letter Thursday, Healey urged Congress to pass three bills sponsored or co-sponsored by Senator Edward Markey, according to a release from the AG's Office.
In a letter to US Senator James M. Inhofe, Chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and Ranking Member Barbara Boxer, Healey wrote, "The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has long had an obligation to develop meaningful long-term solutions to the current on-site storage of nuclear waste in facilities across the country, yet it has failed to do so."
According to the AG, the federal government must ensure proper security is in place at decommissioned nuclear power plants and at operating plants such as Pilgrim Nuclear Plant in Plymouth where spent fuel is stored. Specifically, in her letter, Healey advocated for the passage of the reintroduced Safe and Secure Decommissioning Act of 2015 (S.944), the Nuclear Plant Decommissioning Act of 2015 (S.964) and the Dry Cask Storage Act of 2015 (S.945).
The Dry Cask Storage Act of 2015 (S.945) is sponsored by Senator Markey. Markey introduced the bill in tandem with the sponsors of the other two bills in April.
"More than 40 years after the federal government licensed the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth, MA and the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant in Vernon, VT (located less than ten miles from the Massachusetts border), a permanent nuclear waste repository remains out of reach," the letter said. "It is unacceptable. While we are hopeful that the federal government will fulfill its obligations to provide a long-term storage solution, the absence of a long-term solution has created issues for states and their residents that need to be addressed now."
Bills S.964 and S.944, both have to do with the decommissioning of nuclear power plants. S.964 is sponsored by Senator Bernard Sanders of Vermont and calls for more public involvement and say in decommissioning. The Yankee Nuclear Plant in Vermont was decommissioned in 2014. Yankee, is owned by the same firm that owns Pilgrim, Entergy.
AG Healey's predecessor, Martha Coakley supported the call for the closure of the nuclear plant in Plymouth. In 2011, then AG Coakley petitioned the NRC to not renew the 20-year license for Pilgrim and when the license was renewed, AG Coakley appealed the decision in 2012. Pilgrim has remained open and operative to this day.
Pilgrim's dry cask storage plan is outlined on the Entergy website here.
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