The recent announcement that the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant would close at the end of 2014 has focused renewed attention on the Pilgrim nuclear plant in Plymouth.
In this Feb. 24, 2010 file photo, anti-nuclear citizens celebrate the vote on Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant at the Statehouse in Montpelier, Vt. Vermont's only nuclear power plant will shut down by the end of 2014, ending a nasty legal battle over the future of the 4-decade-old plant, Entergy Corp. announced Tuesday, Aug. 27, 2013. The Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station is expected to cease power production after its current fuel cycle and will begin being decommissioned in the fourth quarter of 2014, the company said. SAGAMORE - The recent announcement that the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant would close at the end of 2014 has focused renewed attention on the Pilgrim nuclear plant in Plymouth.
Both are owned by Entergy Corp.
An anti-nuclear group called Cape Downwinders plans a rally on Monday near the Sagamore Bridge, hoping to catch the attention of visitors leaving Cape Cod at the end of the Labor Day weekend. The group says Cape residents and tourists could be trapped if a serious accident ever occurred at Pilgrim.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission voted last year to relicense Pilgrim through 2032. The plant's operators say the facility is safe and secure, adding that it produces 10 percent of Massachusetts' electrical needs.
Gov. Deval Patrick said recently that it wasn't clear to him whether the state needed Pilgrim.