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REASONS WHY PILGRIM NEEDS TO BE SHUT DOWN NOW
Pilgrim is a 43 year old nuclear reactor in Plymouth, MA. It was designed to last 40 years, but has been relicensed to operate until 2032.
It is the same failed GE Mark 1 design as the 4 reactors destroyed at Fukushima.
Federal Regulators have rated Pilgrim one of the 3 WORST performers in the country.
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The 'Spent Fuel' pool was built for 880 assemblies, and now holds over 3,200; fire could contaminate over 100 miles downwind.
There is NO EVACUTAION plan for Cape Cod. We are to shelter-in-place and wait for relocation.
Pilgrim's electricity is NOT needed according to ISO-NE grid managers. Only 2% of the MA fuel mix is from Pilgrim.
Placed in the 8 top terror targets-by-sea by the Pentagon.
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Senator Dan Wolf, Rep. Sarah Peake, Barnstable County Commissioners and all 15 Cape towns have asked for the closure.
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The Association to Preserve Cape Cod has called for all permits to be revoked and prompt decommissioning of the reactor.
Dr. Richard Clapp of Boston University, in concluding his cancer study, found high leukemia rates around the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant.
Radiation is released from Pilgrim as part of its daily operation. There is no safe dose of radiation. Radiation causes cancer, auto-immune disease, birth defects and reproductive disorders.
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Pilgrim draws in 487,840,000 gallons of water a day from the Cape Cod Bay.
Along with the water, they suck in fish eggs and other microscopic organisms; larger fish get pulled in by the current too and become trapped on intake screens. The marine life that is drawn in gets pulverized by the reactor condenser system and emerges as sediment that clouds the water around the discharge area, often blocking light from the ocean floor.
The sediment cloud results in killing plant and animal life by curtailing the light and oxygen needed to survive. The water that is drawn in cycles through and is then released at temperatures averaged over an hours time period of 30 degrees above Bay temperature (62F to 100F) – disrupting the ecosystem.
16. Sentator Dan Wolf states "third back-up was a Honda generator sitting on a Kabota tractor in the garage. That generator would power a hose to spray down the plant."
15. According to Senator Dan Wolf " ...parts of the plant reminded him of a 1950's science fiction film. "
17. Concentrations of a radioactive isotope called tritium found in late December during groundwater monitoring at Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station were the highest detected since testing began at the plant in 2007.
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18. “When you walk around the plant it doesn’t look like you’d expect,” Senator Dan Wolf said recalling his tour. “They’re working with solid state (equipment), vacuum tubes, maybe some of it is up to date but some of it isn’t. They go to the junkyards of other power plants find replacement parts that still function. Then you go up to the top floor over the containment vessel. You step out and stick to the mat. What is that? It’s really a big piece of flypaper. The purpose is after you go around they want to take the radioactive material off the bottom of your shoes.”
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