BY 

DAVID CEDRONE

 – POSTED ON MARCH 24, 2016POSTED IN: LOCAL NEWS

An informational forum was held at the Plymouth Public Library regarding the decommissioning of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant.

The forum called “Protecting the People” was held Wednesday night at the Plymouth Public Library with a panel of experts discussing the decommissioning of Pilgrim.

Entergy, the company that owns the plant, announced it will close no later than 2019.

Tearing down the plant is not the biggest concern says engineer Arnie Gundersen who spoke at the forum, it’s actually the spent fuel that’s left behind.

“The nuclear regulatory commission allows for 60 years to take that carcass apart. But the nuclear fuel will likely stay there for 40 to 60 years. That waste needs to go to some kind of deep, deep geologic disposal and we just don’t have a place for it yet. Maybe ten acres will have this fuel on it, it’s a 1,600 acre site and the rest of that area should be open for public access in the next 15 years,” said Gundersen.

Hingham resident John Gauley has been concerned about the plant for years and feels Entergy will not follow through with their plans.

“They will not close it down fast enough or properly enough. They will also not consider the people and will care more about their profits. I think it should have been closed 10 years ago. I think they should close it down and clean it up immediately after I heard what the speaker said about waiting 60 years. That is ridiculous,” said Gauley.

Entergy announced that they would close the plant back in October of 2015 because of reduced revenues, poor market conditions and increased operational costs.