Yeah, you’re reading that title right, an energy technology company has plans to dump 1.1 million gallons of nuclear wastewater into Cape Cod Bay. Holtec International, which took ownership of the shutdown Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in 2019, wants to release all 1.1 million gallons of wastewater into the bay due to the costs and effort of proper disposal. The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station sights right on the shore of Cape Cod Bay in Plymouth Massachusetts, and Holtec received a $1 billion trust fund to cover the costs of decommissioning the old nuclear plant. But even with that money, dumping that radioactive water is the route this company wants to go.
Holtec has already been warned by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that an unauthorized release of this water would be in violation of the Clean Water Act. Initially, they had indicated that they were considering dumping the wastewater illegally and just eating the cost of any fines they incur from the illegal dumping of nuclear wastewater. Though, as of a January 23rd meeting with the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel, a Holtec Rep did state they are pursuing a discharge permit to legally discharge the radioactive water into the bay, and would not discharge any water from the spent fuel pool until the permits were complete.
Besides just dumping all 1.1 million gallons of nuclear wastewater in the bay there are other legal options for the disposal of the nuclear wastewater. Such as trucking it off to other facilities designed to handle disposal, evaporating the water and letting the plant’s air-handling system take care of it, or to store it long-term on the plant property. All of these legal options though are more costly and involved for Holtec, but considering the trust they received from the government I personally think they can eat some of the cost. If you want to reach out to your local representatives here are a couple of links for you to do that below.
Energy Tech Company plans to Dump Nuclear Wastewater into Cape Cod
Contact:
(State) Elizabeth Warren
(State) Ed Markey
