Pending SCRAM/Accident at Pilgrim
The future and predictable announcement of yet another emergency shutdown (SCRAM) at the Pilgrim Nuclear Plant will be a disturbing and grim reminder of the deplorable state of operations and readiness at the Plant. Unfortunately, the event will also speak to Governor Baker's lack of oversight and engagement in eliminating this nuclear threat to the public safety. Each new disclosure, each new breach, strains the credibility and trust in his judgment as circumstances worsen. The breakdowns witnessed at Pilgrim are not random events, but are harnessed to a failed infrastructure, beyond redemption and renewal.
On numerous visits to the State House, we have contacted the Governor and met with his staff members concerning the grave dangers that Pilgrim poses. Our four written appeals and the reasons to petition the NRC for immediate closure of Pilgrim have gone unanswered. Complacency reins in the hallways of the Governor's office. Preservation of business credentials, and industry lobbyists appear to have the inside track. The planned closure of Pilgrim in 2019 is playing Russian roulette with our lives.
Here we stand today with another looming debacle, fully self evident, and on his watch again. In stark contrast, Governor Cuomo has called for the immediate closure of Indian Point, where New York City like Cape Cod and Boston, is impossible to evacuate safely.
In his comments, Governor Baker noted that he has allowed the NRC and the ISO NE Grid to take the lead and determine for him the remaining "shelf life" of Pilgrim. There is no safe "shelf life", Mr. Governor! None of woeful defects from prior SCRAMS have been fixed or will be. Entergy has fully written off Pilgrim on its books as a junk plant. That is the point.
As the Chief Safety Officer of Massachusetts, Governor Baker must respond to his most supreme obligation-Public Safety. As long as Pilgrim is operating, he cannot demonstrate any semblance of control over or any certitude in a safe outcome for the five million citizens in harm's way. With his present mindset of paralysis and hopeful expectancy, the storm clouds of risk are gathering. Only his resolute action NOW in calling for the closing of the Pilgrim nuclear reactor will extinguish this threat and avoid total failure. There is no other intervention that is timely and effective. The people of the Commonwealth have a right to safety and we call for immediate action now.