Cape and Islands Senator Dan Wolf (D-Harwich) today released a letter he has sent to Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley encouraging her to appeal a recent ruling by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission which denied her request for new safety hearings regarding the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth.
 
The NRC ruled that new information learned from the Fukushima disaster in Japan one year ago should not be considered in deliberations over whether Pilgrim should be granted a 20-year license renewal. The plan has operated for 40 years.
 
“As you well know, the Pilgrim plant is the exact same design as the Dai-ichi plant in Japan,” Wolf wrote to Coakley. “As information becomes more readily available about what happened during that disaster, it certainly should be used to help regulators make the most informed decisions possible.
 
“In particular, the location and storage of spent nuclear fuel rods at Pilgrim remains a critical safety issue.”
 
Wolf also commended Coakley for her “diligent work representing the Commonwealth as a party to re-licensing hearings,” and noted that the chairman of the NRC, Gregory Jaczko, dissented from the ruling against Coakley’s request.  
 
An appeal of the NRC decision would need to be taken to United States Appeals Court, First District.
 
A full text of Senator Wolf’s letter is attached.

Wolf-Coakley Pilgrim appeal.pdf