Pilgrim Nuclear to Shut Down Permanently

 Pilgrim is a GE mark 1 design, the most dangerous design.

They are shutting it down, we are not sure when, but by 2019 June 1 for sure.    They refuel in spring of 2017, so that also may be the last fission date.

 It is a hazard to Boston and Plymouth, and in reality to the northern hemisphere.

 

Management cited several reasons for the decision, including low current and forecast low wholesale energy prices that are expected to lead to annual losses of more than $40 million in revenue for Pilgrim.
The company also blamed state energy policy, which Mohl said "picks winners and losers."
"When we look at energy policies in Massachusetts we see a proposed clean energy standard that excludes nuclear, a preference for Canadian hydro power and the subsidization of gas pipeline capacity through electric ratepayers, and put that all together ... and it became clear to us that we needed to make the decision to retire Pilgrim," Mohl said.
The plant will remain under enhanced oversight by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission throughout the process, and Entergy expects to spend $45 million to $60 million at the plant during that time, he said.

 

 stock here: the reality is that Pilgrim has been problematic for decades already.   In Feb 2015 they were one step away from a massive radiation release.   And the NRC was coming down on them hard for obstructing a recent investigation.

 

The plant will remain under enhanced oversight by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission throughout the process, and Entergy expects to spend $45 million to $60 million at the plant during that time, he said.

The decision by New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. comes about a month after federal inspectors downgraded the plant's safety rating to the lowest level and said they would increase oversight in the wake of a shutdown during a winter storm. The owners maintained that the plant in Plymouth remained safe, although it needed millions of dollars in upgrades.

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/cf3d8d3db5f24cd98f6408d6e9a9520f/massachusetts-nuclear-power-plant-close-2019

 

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So now is a good time to look at Coopers report, Renaissance in Reverse.
Was Pilgrim on the list of likely reactor shut downs? You bet.
Which reactor is next to fold?
https://will.illinois.edu/nfs/...
view it online
https://www.documentcloud.org/...
"
Of the overall at-risk group, 12 reactors (in alphabetical order) were found to be at greatest risk of early retirement:

1. Clinton (selling into a tough market); 
2. Davis-Besse (large number of risk factors); 
3. Fitzpatrick(high cost but offset by high market clearing price); 
4. Ft. Calhoun (outage, poor performance); 
5. Ginna (single unit with negative margin, existing contract); 
6. Indian Point (license extension, state opposition); 
7. Millstone (tax issues); 
8. Nine Mile Point (site size saves it, existing contract); 
9. Oyster Creek (already set to retire early); 
10. Palisades (repair impending, local opposition) 
11. Pilgrim (large number of risk factors, local opposition); and
12. Vt. Yankee (tax issue and state opposition)."

http://www.prnewswire.com/news...

 

Economics says the CEO.
http://www.enterprisenews.com/...
The NRC says 646 million saved up is enough to decommission. But the costs may be more.
http://patch.com/massachusetts...
http://www.capecod.com/newscen...
"The decommissioning trust fund had a balance of approximately $870 million as of Sept. 30, Mohl said — $240 million more than the company is legally required to have at this time, but $380 million less than the estimated $1.25 billion cost to decommission Entergy’s Vermont Yankee plant."
https://www.bostonglobe.com/me...
And the cost over runs continue from construction to decommissioning.

 

 

 

 

 

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