Template:Infobox Nuclear power plant

Pilgrim Station is currently the only nuclear power plant operating in the United States state of Massachusetts. It is located in the Manomet section of Plymouth on Cape Cod Bay, south of the tip of Rocky Point and north of Priscilla Beach. Like many similar plants, it was constructed by Bechtel, and is powered by a General Electric boiling water reactor and generator. It has a 690 MW production capacity.

Built at a cost of $231 million in 1972 by Boston Edison, it was sold in 1999 to the Louisiana-based Entergy Corporation, part of a complex deal that is the result of deregulation of the electrical utility industry.

Pilgrim keeps its spent nuclear fuel in an on-site storage pool, waiting for federal direction on the correct disposal process. The Yucca Mountain site in Nevada is the only location being considered for this purpose.

Pilgrim's license to operate expires in 2012. An application for an extended operating license (until 2032) is under consideration by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as of 2008.[1]

Opposition to Pilgrim's license extension in recent years has come mainly from a local watchdog group, Pilgrim Watch, which has filed legal and procedural challenges, largely on behalf of neighboring towns. The state attorney general has also raised questions about, among other issues, the possible danger posed by storage of spent nuclear fuel at the Plymouth site.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ "Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station — License Renewal Application". U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. 2008-02-14. Retrieved 2008-08-21.
  2. ^ Nuclear power foes not stilled in N.E.

External links

41°56.7′N 70°34.7′W / 41.9450°N 70.5783°W / 41.9450; -70.5783

Nuclear power in the United States
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