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Protesters demand Plymouth nuclear plant shut down after email mishap

PLYMOUTH, Mass. — An internal email with alarming safety concerns about the Pilgrim power plant ended up going public inadvertently and protesters took to the streets Friday outside the plant.

From the corner to the main gate, protesters marched, demanding the power plant close.

"It is time to pull the plug on Pilgrim,” said Mary Lampert, a protester and member of Pilgrim Watch, a group against the nuclear power plant.

Earlier this week, an internal email from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission went to a Cape Cod woman who usually gets the safety report updates on the plant.  She quickly realized this time she was cc'd on an internal government email thread.

"I noticed it was the inspection team discussing Pilgrim in very alarming terms," said the email receiver, Diane Turco, who is associated with Cape Downwinders, a group that opposes the power plant.

The email, from the head of the NRC inspection team currently working in the plant, describes an overwhelmed staff with workers who appear to be struggling to keep the plant running. The email also discussed the plant's failure to follow industry procedure and failure to properly fix broken equipment.

"The content of that email it causes unrest and anxiety in the public and number 2 it was initial observations from someone who is an expert in the field,” said Melissa Arrighi, the Plymouth town manager.

Plymouth officials called an emergency meeting this week to demand answers.

The NRC said the email mishap "...contains preliminary – and we would emphasize preliminary – observations from the team inspection...and to what extent, if any, these observations factor into our final determinations on Entergy’s progress in improving the plant’s performance would be difficult, if not impossible, to predict at this point."

Arrighi said the NRC has to ease the public's concerns now that the information is out there.

“Even though it is initial observations, they are serious initial observations,” she said.

For the Cape Downwinders, this is the smoking gun they have been waiting for.

“This isn't a candy factory, this is a nuclear power reactor that threatens 5 million people within the 15 mile emergency zone and that includes metro Boston,” said Turco.

The town is reaching out to federal partners and the governor to try to get the NRC to put this preliminary information into context. The Governor's office said they are anxious to see the final report that will be out within 45 days.

FULL STATEMENTS:

“The 95003 Phase ‘C’ inspection is the next step in Pilgrim’s process toward a return to industry excellence.  We have worked hard to address the issues that led to station performance decline and look forward to demonstrating to the NRC that we have made significant progress in these areas through the inspection process.  Until the results of the 95003 Phase "C" inspection and the confirmatory action letter are released, we will not comment on the inspection.” - Entergy, the company that runs the power plant.

“We expect the NRC and federal government as the overseers and the regulators of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant to do what is in the best interest of the people of New England. The facility just doesn’t serve us, it serves the people across the region. We are anxious to see the report and anxious to see that the feds do what they need to do on this, and if we need to pull the congressional delegation into the conversation to help get the federal government to do what they need to do, we will.” - Governor Baker

"An e-mail inadvertently sent to a member of the public on Tuesday morning contains preliminary – and we would emphasize preliminary – observations from the team inspection we currently have under way at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant. We are still in the early stages of our Phase "C" inspection at Pilgrim and to what extent, if any, these observations factor into our final determinations on Entergy's progress in improving the plant's performance would be difficult, if not impossible, to predict at this point.

It's important to point out that our inspectors continuously evaluate plant safety as issues are identified and Pilgrim remains safe based on what we have seen thus far.

As we've stated previously, the team will have 45 days after the inspection formally ends to document any findings. In the meantime, information on the progress of our review is considered "pre-decisional" and therefore will we not have any further comment at this time regarding it." - NRC