Lawmakers seek safeguards on Pilgrim decommissioning

By Chris Lisinski / State House News Service

Posted Jan 22, 2020 

Holtec lobbyist warns that proposed legislation would lead to lawsuits and delays.

BOSTON — Lawmakers are seeking additional influence over the decommissioning of the recently shuttered Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, but a representative for the company conducting the work argued Wednesday that those attempts may be unconstitutional.

Tom Joyce, a lobbyist for Holtec Decommissioning International, said that bills imposing higher cleanup standards or reforming how decommissioning is funded would exceed the state’s authority and infringe on the jurisdiction of the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Joyce told the Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy that passage of the bills would likely prompt a lawsuit from Holtec, delaying the decommissioning process that the company has said will take seven years.

“As (lawmakers) attempt to regulate and to require certain criteria for the decommissioning of the nuclear power plant, they are, I would argue strenuously, in violation of the federal preemption doctrine of our United States Constitution,” Joyce said. “I say that without hesitation.”

Backers of the legislation, though, see the proposals as important steps to protect local stakeholders amid a process that has drawn criticism and a lawsuit from the attorney general.

Plymouth Republican Rep. Mathew Muratore, who filed one of the bills that would require decommissioning to meet stricter environmental standards, said his goal is to ensure the land is clean enough to appeal to potential businesses and avoid remaining vacant.

″(Holtec) says they follow the guidelines of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which is fine,” Muratore told the News Service. “We get that. But we want to make sure that not only do they meet those guidelines, but that they exceed them for the sake of the community and so that land can be an economic driver down the road.”

The Pilgrim facility officially ended operations May 31 after decades of generating power. In August, the NRC approved the transfer of Pilgrim’s license from Entergy to Holtec International to handle its decommissioning.

Attorney General Maura Healey, with the backing of the Baker administration, filed a lawsuit seeking to block the transfer until the NRC holds a hearing on concerns about Holtec’s ability to decommission the plant safely, its financial stability and the company’s alleged involvement in a kickback scheme.

Speakers at Wednesday’s committee hearing said the case, which also features the Pilgrim Watch group as a party, is still pending.

Other bills before the committee would charge the owners of any nuclear power station in the state $25 million per year and stash the money into a fund managed by the state treasurer only to be used for postclosure activities.

Pilgrim Watch chairwoman Mary Lampert said that money would serve as an “insurance policy.” If decommissioning concluded using the existing trust fund set aside for those purposes, the owners would get back the additional funding plus interest, she said. If not, the state would have a reserve ready to cover any shortfall.

Without a safety net backing up the more than $1 billion trust fund, Lampert said, taxpayers would be on the hook.

“Who’s going to pay the difference? We’re going to pay the difference,” she told the committee. “Holtec cannot be required to do so. Why can it not be required to do so? Because it is a limited liability company and you cannot get blood out of this stone.”

Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, a co-sponsor of the bill, said Connecticut found itself footing a $480 million bill to complete decommissioning of the former Connecticut Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.

Like the legislation concerning cleanup standards, Joyce argued the funding proposals would unconstitutionally circumvent NRC authority. 

“If any one of those bills is passed, it could very well have the likelihood of controversy, litigation, the consumption of much time, and result in not prompt decommissioning, but delaying decommissioning of the nuclear plant,” he said.

Muratore and Lampert said they did not agree with that argument, with the latter arguing that the bills in question are all “money bills” and therefore grant the state authority to take additional action.

“States have the authority to enact a more conservative (environmental) standard if it applies after NRC has released the site because once the NRC has released the site, it no longer has authority, so there is not a question of preemption,” Lampert said.

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POLITICO MASSACHUSETTS PLAYBOOK: SENATE to unveil CLIMATE bill — UBER and LYFT fees could rise — FALL RIVER mayor’s wild ride

SENATE to unveil CLIMATE bill — UBER and LYFT fees could rise — FALL RIVER mayor’s wild ride

BY STEPHANIE MURRAY GOOD MORNING, MASSACHUSETTS. FIRST IN PLAYBOOK: KHAZEI GETS A CONGRESSIONAL BOOST — Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin is wading into the race to replace Rep. Joe Kennedy III. Raskin will endorse City Year founder Alan Khazei today. This marks the progressive lawmaker's first congressional endorsement of the 2020 cycle. Raskin and Khazei met at Harvard University , and the Maryland lawmaker was there when Khazei came up with the idea for City Year with co-founder Michael Brown. Raskin said Khazei will be an "excellent successor" to Kennedy and former Congressman Barney Frank. The Khazei campaign says it has signed up 400 "Khazei Corps" volunteers so far. Raskin is not the first House member to endorse in the 4th District congressional race. Rep. Ayanna Pressley endorsed Democratic hopeful Jesse Mermell in October. Newton City Councilors Becky Grossman and Jake Auchincloss, lawyer Dave Cavell and former Wall Street regulator Ihssane Leckey have released a number of state and local endorsements, too. Khazei's new endorsement comes as the field of candidates running for Kennedy's House seat got a little big larger this week. Brookline lawyer Ben Sigel announced his campaign on Tuesday, and plans to hold a listening tour across the district's 34 towns by Feb. 9. That brings the field to seven candidates, and five of them live in Brookline. Have a tip, story, suggestion, birthday, anniversary, new job, or any other nugget for the Playbook? Get in touch: smurray@politico.com. TODAY — Gov. Charlie Baker makes an announcement at Hattie Kelton Apartments in Jamaica Plain. Baker is a guest on WGBH's "Boston Public Radio." Baker and Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito celebrate the launch of the Career Tech Initiative in Andover. Senate President Karen Spilka is a guest on WGBH's "Morning Edition." Boston Mayor Marty Walsh is in Washington, D.C. for the U.S. Conference of Mayors winter meeting. Walsh speaks on a panel hosted by Keolis at the French Ambassador's Residence. Former Gov. Deval Patrick is in New Hampshire to meet with Fidelity employees in Merrimack, and the Coos County Democrats in Berlin. Rep. Richard Neal attends a ribbon cutting in Springfield. DATELINE BEACON HILL - "Baker calls for Uber, Lyft fee hike, more MBTA funds in budget proposal," by Matt Stout and Adam Vaccaro, Boston Globe: "Facing a growing clamor to boost public transit funding, Governor Charlie Baker on Wednesday unveiled a $44.6 billion budget plan that would raise the fees imposed on Uber and Lyft rides by $100 million, and funnel the new cash into the MBTA and municipal coffers. 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Charlie Baker in July 2018, allows police, friends or relatives of a legal gun owner to seek a so-called "extreme risk protection order" if they believe that person poses a risk to themselves or others." - "Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's budget proposes $92.3M funding increase for early child care providers, childcare vouchers," by Steph Solis, MassLive.com: "Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker's budget for fiscal 2021 includes a proposed $92.3 million funding boost for early childcare providers and childcare voucher programs. 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FROM THE HUB - "The number of million-dollar earners in Mass. is soaring — here's where they live," by Matt Rocheleau, Boston Globe: "The number of million-dollar earners among us continues to proliferate. The Massachusetts Department of Revenue's latest report on million-dollar earners shows 18,205 tax filings were submitted by residents statewide reporting an adjusted gross income of more than $1 million during the 2017 tax year, the most recent year for which data is available. (And yes, that's referring to the number of people with income that exceeded $1 million in that year, not assets.)" - "Developer unveils his 600-foot-tall vision for Boston's waterfront," by Tim Logan, Boston Globe: "After years of vague discussions about the size and shape of a skyscraper he wants to build on Boston's waterfront, developer Don Chiofaro is laying his cards on the table. 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He cracked jokes, urged them to volunteer, and repeatedly rebutted the refrain that he entered the 2020 Democratic presidential race too late to win." - "Deval Patrick, back in former Chicago neighborhood, studies up on economic barriers," by Larry Parnass, The Berkshire Eagle: "When Deval Patrick was a child, people stepped inside the Currency Exchange, on the poor side of Washington Park, because they didn't have bank accounts. They paid fees to cash paychecks. They pushed money over a counter to cover utility bills. On Wednesday, the former Massachusetts governor returned to this place in his old neighborhood, now called Peach's at Currency Exchange Cafe." - "Is Deval Patrick running for vice president?" by Lisa Kashinsky, Boston Herald: "With Deval Patrick's foundering presidential bid barely a blip in the polls, political operatives say it looks like the former Massachusetts governor's real target could be a step or two below the Oval Office. 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The survey of more than 426 likely Democratic primary voters finds Sanders in the lead, running well ahead of his three closest competitors: Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, and Elizabeth Warren. This has been a good period for Sanders, who's been raising more money than anyone else in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination." ABOVE THE FOLD — Herald: "STRIPPED DOWN SENTENCE," "WALK THAT WAY," — Globe: "Schiff accuses Trump of trying 'to cheat,'" "HEALTH CRISIS WORSENS," "Baker seeks fee hike for Uber, Lyft." TRUMPACHUSETTS - "Academics, authors come to the defense of fired Babson College employee," by Deirdre Fernandes, Boston Globe: "Dozens of academics, free speech advocates, and bold-type authors, actors, and musicians — including Salman Rushdie, Joyce Carol Oates, and Rosanne Cash — have come to the defense of a Babson College employee who was fired earlier this month for a satirical Facebook post made as President Trump threatened Iran." EYE ON 2020 - Meehan: 2020 doesn't feel like just another year," by UMass President Marty Meehan, CommonWealth Magazine: "A NEW YEAR HAS DAWNED and for me, and I think for many, 2020 doesn't feel like "just another year." It seems like a time when daunting challenges swirl all around us. In Washington, the president has been impeached and partisan animosity has soared to new heights. Around the world - from Australia's fires to floods in India that killed 1,900 people to hurricanes that rage with new ferocity — our environment is expressing dramatic distress. And poverty, conflict, and inequality continue to haunt us at home and abroad. In times like this, I think it's good to have heroes." FROM THE 413 - "Springfield-Boston rail service? Lawmaker's message is that it's long overdue," by Jon Chesto, Boston Globe: "When Governor Charlie Baker visits Springfield Friday, US Representative Richard Neal will join him to celebrate the last piece of the long-awaited Union Station renovation: a new elevator to the train platform. But Neal doesn't want to stop there. The Springfield Democrat plans to give Baker an earful about another pet project that hasn't even left the station yet: frequent train service to Boston." - "Franklin County school districts grapple with fallout from Superintendent Michael Buoniconti's affair with employee," by Jim Russell, Springfield Republican: "Two Franklin County school boards that share one superintendent — Michael Buoniconti, who recently acknowledged an affair with an employee — have not agreed on whether he should stay or go. 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Correia lingers for a while, admiring the jungle gym and slides, reveling in the memory of being the object of admiration to such a powerful man." FOR YOUR RADAR — Dunkin' is hiring a lobbyist with the promise of an "endless supply of coffee and donuts." Link. TRANSITIONS - Finnegan announces seven attorneys promoted to partnership across the firm's Boston, Washington, D.C., Atlanta, Palo Alto and Reston offices. The new partners include Cory C. Bell, Pier D. DeRoo, Cora R. Holt, Benjamin R. Schlesinger, Jeffrey D. Smyth, Daniel C. Tucker and M. David Weingarten. - Boston Symphony Orchestra president and CEO Mark Volpe plans to retire next year. Link. - Joe Chafins joins Sen. Ed Markey's campaign as a field organizer. HAPPY BIRTHDAY - to Kristen Lepore, chief of staff to Gov. Charlie Baker; and the Harvard Institute of Politics' Amy Howell. DID THE HOME TEAM WIN? Yes! The Celtics beat the Grizzlies 119-95. FOR YOUR COMMUTE: WHATEVER FLOATS YOUR VOTE - On this week's Horse Race podcast, hosts Steve Koczela and Stephanie Murray talk about the recent Democratic presidential debate, and where things stand in Iowa for the 2020 hopefuls. Liberty Square Group founder Scott Ferson joins to talk about the Welcome Party, a group that's reaching out to independent voters in New Hampshire. Later, Evan Fulchuk of Voter Choice Massachusetts talks about ranked choice voting and how it could impact the Bay State. Subscribe and listen on iTunes and Sound Cloud. Want to make an impact? POLITICO Massachusetts has a variety of solutions available for partners looking to reach and activate the most influential people in the Bay State. Have a petition you want signed? A cause you're promoting? Seeking to increase brand awareness among this key audience? Share your message with our influential readers to foster engagement and drive action. Contact Jesse Shapiro to find out how: jshapiro@politico.com.   Follow us on Twitter Stephanie Murray @StephMurr_Jour   Subscribe to the POLITICO Playbook family Playbook  |  Playbook PM  |  California Playbook  |  Florida Playbook  |  Illinois Playbook  |  Massachusetts Playbook  |  New Jersey Playbook  |  New York Playbook  |  Brussels Playbook  |  London Playbook View all our politics and policy newsletters FOLLOW US

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Panel to hear arguments for keeping Pilgrim’s emergency planning zone

By Christine Legere

Posted Jan 20, 2020

PLYMOUTH — Members of the region’s legislative delegation and those who continue to keep close watch on Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station will argue to keep the emergency planning zone around the plant during a hearing Wednesday before the state’s Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy.

In addition to keeping the zone in place, proponents also will argue for keeping the zone’s accompanying financial commitments.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has agreed to allow Holtec International, the plant’s current owner, to eliminate the 10-mile emergency planning zone around Pilgrim as of April 1, just 10 months after the reactor’s permanent shutdown.

Under tweaks included in Senate Bill 1943, the 10-mile emergency planning zone around a nuclear plant would remain in place, even through when the reactor is shut down, until “all spent nuclear fuel or high-level radioactive waste at the facility is stored in dry cask storage systems licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.”

The bill would also maintain the payments to fund evacuation plans, staff and training for Duxbury, Marshfield, Kingston, Carver and Plymouth, the five towns in the 10-mile emergency planning zone, at least until the spent fuel is stored in dry casks.

Those annual payments total about $2 million. Funding would also be required for continued monitoring around the plant done by the Department of Public Health, until spent fuel is in dry casks.

Pilgrim’s 46½ years online left behind more than 4,000 spent fuel assemblies that will likely be stored onsite for years to come.

Three-quarters of the waste sits on boron-coated racks under 40 feet of water in the spent fuel pool at the top of Pilgrim’s reactor building. The boron, which prevents a nuclear reaction from occurring in the pool, has been deteriorating over the last several years, forcing operators to rearrange the pool fuel.

The plan is to move all the waste from the pool into dry casks over the course of the next three years.

Sen. Julian Cyr, D-Truro, and former state Sen. Viriato “Vinny” deMacedo filed an amendment to the fiscal 2020 state budget last summer that would have required Holtec International to continue paying assessments for radiation monitoring and emergency planning throughout decommissioning, which is expected to take about eight years. The amendment was taken out before the budget was finalized.

“The aim of this bill is to preserve what we currently have,” Cyr said. “Why should the commonwealth have to be on the hook for these things?”

Mary Lampert, director of the citizens group Pilgrim Watch, said she agrees “in part” with the measures included in the bill, but said she would keep the requirements in place for considerably longer.

“The bill would require assessments to the licensee only while the spent fuel is in the spent fuel pool, but not when all the fuel is out of the pool and into dry casks,” Lampert said. “This recognizes the probability that a disaster with horrendous consequences decreases after the fuel is out of the pool. It does not end, however.”

The bill also requires payments for continued monitoring for radiation leaks at the site. Those measures help protect those who live on the Cape, as well as those in the area directly around Pilgrim. It also protects water in Cape Cod Bay.

“The monitoring is an early warning system for everyone,” Cyr said.

Lambert, however, plans to push to have the bill amended to require Holtec to cover the cost of monitoring for radiation until the spent fuel leaves Plymouth. Currently, there is nowhere for spent fuel from nuclear reactors to be permanently stored.

“The bill is to encourage them to empty the spent fuel pool as soon as possible,” Lampert said. “The licensee has said they are going to do that anyway.”

Lampert pointed out the possibility of fire in the contaminated buildings that could cause radiation to leak into the environment. She also said an accident could occur while handling the fuel, or the heavy steel casks could crack and leak.

“Currently no technology exists to inspect, repair or replace cracked canisters,” she said.

Patrick O’Brien, speaking for Holtec International, said the company stands by its plan to reduce the emergency planning zone to its site boundary on April 1.

“This allowance was done so after careful review and consideration of scientific data related to the risks associated with a potential issue with the spent fuel pool,” said O’Brien in an email. “With the reactor no longer in operation, and the multiple defense in depth options to maintain adequate level in the spent fuel pool, the scientific basis for the reduction is warranted. Safety and security remain our #1 focus at Pilgrim Station.”

The Joint Committee on Telecommunications, Utilities and Energy is scheduled to hear testimony on a long list of bills during its statehouse session Wednesday, which is scheduled for 11 a.m.

NOTICE CHARLIE BAKER'S SILENCE....BOTH SENATOR MARKEY AND SENATOR WARREN SPOKE OUT.... 

WHERE IS KENNEDY WHO PRETENDS HE SHOULD BE SENATOR? 
KENNEDY IS TOO BUSY DISTRACTING AND GLAD HANDING TO ADDRESS ISSUES OF SIGNIFICANCE TO THE COMMONWEALTH. 

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PILGRIM WATCH

Request for stay on Pilgrim license transfer denied

By Christine Legere

Posted Dec 22, 2019

Nuclear Regulatory Commission says AG’s office failed to show how approval would pose harm to citizens

Federal regulators have denied a request from state Attorney General Maura Healey to stay the license transfer for Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station from Entergy Corp. to Holtec International until officials and the public have had an opportunity to weigh in.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s staff approved the license transfer Aug. 22, even though the commission had not yet acted on a petition from state officials to intervene in the license review process, which it had submitted in February.

Two days after the commission’s staff approved the license transfer, Entergy sold the plant to Holtec, the company that will oversee the now-shuttered Plymouth plant’s decommissioning.

But state officials have continued to battle for a voice.

On Sept. 4, the attorney general’s office filed its request to put a temporary halt on the license transfer until the commission made a decision on the state’s motion to intervene.

The attorney general’s office argued that the commission’s failure to act on the petition to intervene had deprived the public of its chance to weigh in on the transfer, since a hearing would have been part of that process.

If the stay was not granted, the attorney general said, the commonwealth and its citizens would suffer harm “due to the immediate start of decommissioning activities by a licensee that is neither technically nor financially qualified to perform the work.”

In its denial of the stay Tuesday, the five-member commission argued the state failed to show it would suffer irreparable harm, since current decommissioning tasks — moving spent radioactive fuel into dry casks — would be the same whether the property was owned by Holtec or returned to Entergy.

The 35-page denial also noted the commission would still have the ability to reverse the license transfer or attach orders and conditions, based on the outcome of the requested hearing.

Local activists and the region’s legislators view the denial as just one more snub state officials and citizens have been dealt as Pilgrim transitions into decommissioning. The reactor shut down permanently May 31.

Duxbury citizens group Pilgrim Watch has filed its own motion to intervene in Pilgrim’s license transfer, which is also pending. Organization president Mary Lampert was critical of the NRC’s stay denial.

“The residents around Pilgrim and the state of Massachusetts have real and substantive concerns about transferring the nuclear plant from one entity that had one of the worst safety records to another entity that has almost no experience decommissioning a power plant,” U.S. Sen. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said in a letter to the NRC. “Instead of listening to the people of Massachusetts, the NRC continues to move forward with this license transfer without answering critical questions about safety, security, and funding.”

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., called the denial “a punch in the gut to the people who live, work and go to school in the area and who have rightly raised safety concerns and should be heard.”

Over the last several months, state officials had made several unsuccessful attempts to have a voice in the license transfer process. Asked whether the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has a deadline to act on the petition to intervene and request for a public hearing, spokesman Neil Sheehan said in an email that the commission “will rule on the requests when it is ready to do so.”

Healey’s office sued the commission in federal court in late September, asking the court to overturn the agency’s August license transfer approval and an accompanying exemption that allows use of the plant’s $1.1 billion decommissioning trust fund for non-decommissioning activities.

The suit accuses the commission of violating the Atomic Energy Act, National Environmental Policy Act and the commission’s own regulations by approving Pilgrim’s license transfer without providing “the Commonwealth with a meaningful opportunity to participate in the process.”

Duxbury citizens group Pilgrim Watch has filed its own motion to intervene in Pilgrim’s license transfer, which is also pending. Organization president Mary Lampert was critical of the NRC’s stay denial. 

“The decision is replete with statements that the NRC can ‘fix’ this after the hearing,” Lampert said in an email. “The fact of the matter is that the NRC cannot turn back the clock; neither does it have any ability to require anyone to make up a shortfall in funding if the only two licensees, Holtec Pilgrim and HDI (Holtec Decommissioning International), are limited liability companies and have no money. The NRC cannot get blood out of a stone.”

“While we are pleased with the recent ruling denying the stay requests, we appreciate and understand that there is still an adjudicatory proceeding remaining,” Patrick O’Brien, spokesman for Holtec and Pilgrim, said in a statement. “As a reminder, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission had previously concluded that Holtec met the required regulatory, legal, technical and financial requirements to qualify as licensee, but we respect the petitioner’s rights to file legal motions, we are not going to comment on any specific legal motions or action.”

MEMA chief objects to elimination of emergency buffer at Pilgrim

By Christine Legere

Posted Nov 25, 2019

Decommissioning process still poses substantial risk to public, new director argues.

PLYMOUTH — The state’s top emergency planning official is objecting to a federal exemption allowing owners of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to shrink the current 10-mile emergency planning zone around the reactor down to the plant’s property line.

Samantha Phillips, the new director of the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, says the “all hazards plan” the state uses for other emergencies would not provide an adequate response for a nuclear accident.

The emergency planning for the zone around the nuclear plant should remain in place until all 3,000 radioactive spent fuel assemblies, currently sitting in a pool on the site, are transferred to heavy steel and cement dry casks, she said.

“The Commonwealth’s overriding interest at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station is to maintain public safety,” Phillips says in her letter to Scott Wall, manager of the Division of Operating Reactor Licensing, a branch of the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation. “While the type and probability of public safety risks at a nuclear power station evolve and reflect whether a plant is active or inactive, a nuclear power station undergoing decommissioning and deconstruction nonetheless presents substantial and complex risks to public safety, especially when spent fuel remains in the spent fuel pool.”

The Plymouth reactor ceased operation May 31. Longtime owner, Entergy Corp., then sold the plant in August to Holtec International, which will handle decommissioning.

Based on a vote earlier this month, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission will allow the elimination of the emergency planning zone, which encompasses sections of Plymouth, Kingston, Carver and Duxbury, come April.

With that elimination comes the loss of about $2 million in annual funding for those towns to be put toward safety training, staffing, equipment and expenses.

Meanwhile, staff at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station continues to be reduced. According to Patrick O’Brien, a spokesman for Holtec, staffing is currently at 263 workers and at the end of March or early April the number will drop to 180-185 workers.

“The Commonwealth is deeply concerned that such a reduction in on-site personnel will result in reliance on state and local off-site personnel to address hazardous and potentially catastrophic events at PNPS, such as spent fuel uncovering, fires affecting radioactive materials, and construction accidents,” Phillips wrote.

But O’Brien argued staffing remains robust.

“Pilgrim Station continues to maintain four strong, talented emergency planning teams,” O’Brien said in an email. He added that the exemption from the emergency planning zone requirement was granted “based on science and the low potential for an emergency to expand past the site boundary after the fuel has cooled in the pool for an appropriate amount of time.”

Holtec has said the fuel should all be transferred into dry casks by the end of 2022.

Prior to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s vote to grant the exemption to the emergency planning zone, state and federal legislators voiced their opposition.

Federal emergency management officials had expressed concern with the commission’s assumption that state and local responders could provide necessary assistance at the plant during a nuclear emergency, and at the same time evacuate citizens from the 10-mile area around the plant.

Using the “all hazards plan” places “an inappropriate and undue burden on local communities nearby PNPS,” Phillips said. “State and Local agencies will be required to maintain significant and hazardous responsibilities to ensure public safety and disaster response at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station. Such essential obligations include developing and implementing a wide-scale evacuation and sheltering program.”

Mary Lampert, president of the Pilgrim Watch citizens group, said the damage caused by a nuclear accident, even with the plant shutdown, would be devastating.

“Until all spent fuel has been moved from the spent fuel pool into dry casks, the risk of a spent fuel pool fire remains, resulting from acts of malice, a fuel handling accident during transfer, equipment failure or human error.” Lampert said. “The NRC estimated that the offsite consequences of a major pool fire could include contaminating as much as 38,610 square miles of land, forcing the evacuation of millions, and trillions of dollars in damages.”

Jeff Baran was the sole commission member to vote against granting the exemption. Although Pilgrim is shut down, Baran said, “EPZs should be in place to provide defense-in-depth because the probability of an accident involving a significant release of radioactive material, although small, is not zero.”

David Lochbaum, former director of the Nuclear Safety Program for the Union of Concerned Scientists, agreed with Baran’s concern. He said maintaining an emergency planning zone is “akin to passengers on cruise ships having a reserved spot in a lifeboat along with a life preserver.”

“Eliminating emergency planning with irradiated fuel in the spent fuel pool is gambling with American lives as table stakes,” Lochbaum said.

Attorney General Maura Healey sued the commission last month for approving the transfer of Pilgrim’s license from Entergy Corp. to Holtec International without first listening to what state officials and the public had to say about it. Healey contends Holtec is inexperienced in decommissioning and will likely run out of money before the job is done.

Editor’s note: This story has been updated with correct staffing number information.