State ups ante on Pilgrim review

Terror risk cited; license could wait

Concerned that nuclear waste stored at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant remains a tempting target for terrorists, the state has officially entered the federal review of Pilgrim's request to extend its operations for 20 years, until 2032.

Attorney General Martha Coakley's office filed notice of its intent to participate as an "interested state" Tuesday after other paths to put the safety issue on the table were blocked by federal courts.

"We chose to participate as an interested governmental body because our office remains concerned about the safety of spent fuel rods," said Amie Breton, a spokeswoman for the attorney general's office.

The state contends that Pilgrim's increasingly high-density storage of spent nuclear fuel rods inside the Plymouth plant increases the risk of fire in the event of a serious accident or a terrorist attack.

That risk, said the filing, should be addressed before federal regulators extend Pilgrim's right to operate for an additional 20 years.

If a fire broke out, the state argued in a recent court case, "a large, atmospheric release of radioactive material would occur."

That could result in 8,000 cases of cancer and more than $100 billion in damages, state officials said.

The plant's owner, Entergy Nuclear Operations, and the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission maintain that the plant is safe.

By officially entering the proceeding, the attorney general's office gains the right to file motions to the NRC - and can call for the license considerations to be halted until its safety concerns are addressed.

The state's entry into the case pleased some officials in towns near the plant.

"The AG has concerns, as we do, that the population is protected," said Richard MacDonald, Duxbury town manager. "This is just another layer of protections. It keeps everything above board as it should be."

Pilgrim spokesman David Tarantino said the state's entry into the license extension proceedings was not unexpected, given the recent court ruling that left it few other ways to raise the spent-fuel storage issue.

The state's entry comes late in the more than two years of license-renewal proceedings. Pilgrim's owner and its critics have presumed that the only remaining step in the process is a decision by a special three-judge panel on a separate safety issue - the possible safety risk of underground radiation leaks.

That decision, which Pilgrim officials expect in about three months, is the "last impediment" to getting the plant relicensed, said Tarantino.

But the state's entry in relicensing proceedings could extend the process.

Assistant Attorney General James Milkey - writing in the notice of intent that was filed last week - was explicit, saying the state is seeking to protect its right to a decision on spent fuel "before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission issues any renewed operating license to the applicant, Entergy."

Milkey also warned that the state might petition the NRC to put a halt to the proceedings until the "adequate resolution of the Commonwealth's rulemaking petition."

The state was nudged to enter the proceedings after a federal court last month ruled against another legal route the state had tried to use to raise its concerns about spent-fuel safety. That ruling appeared to leave the state no recourse other than to enter the Pilgrim proceeding officially, as it now has.

The state has raised its concerns about spent-fuel storage safety in other NRC venues, including what is called a rulemaking petition, which is pending before the NRC. Last month's federal court ruling urged the NRC to make a prompt decision on the petition.

The federal regulators have not said when they will decide the matter. Decisions on rulemaking petitions typically take a long time, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said, because they apply to all nuclear plants, not just to Pilgrim.

As the safety debate has continued in court, Pilgrim has regularly received high marks on its annual NRC safety reviews, and the NRC has pointed to increased security measures since the Sept. 11 attacks.

Tarantino, the Pilgrim spokesman, acknowledged that with the spent-fuel issue on the table, the license proceedings could slow down. But he said he had no idea when that decision might come.

"That's up the NRC," he said. "We learned that licensees should not speculate on what the regulators might do."

Robert Knox can be contacted at rc.knox@gmail.com.