Pilgrim nuclear station to close by June 1, 2019

The plant needs millions of dollars in safety improvements. For example, the US intends to limit carbon-dioxide emissions from power plants by 2030, but Mr. Mohl said a few state and federal policies that favor clean energy specifically exclude existing nuclear plants, even though they emit no carbon.

Entergy said Pilgrim would close by June 1, 2019, with the exact timing to be determined during the first half of 2016 following talks with ISO-New England, the region’s electric grid operator.

According to The Boston Globe, Pilgrim provides roughly 12.5 percent of the electricity in Massachusetts. Entergy is forecasting a roughly $40 million annual loss in the coming years.

The company said low wholesale energy prices played a major role in the decision.

Pilgrim is now one of just two nuclear plants in the U.S.in the next-to-lowest category, denoting multiple, repetitive safety problems.

“This is a particularly risky time”, Pilgrim Watch founder Mary Lampert said today.

“This is an extremely hard day for us”, said Mohl.

Pilgrim would become the second Entergy nuclear plant in New England to be permanently closed as a result of market conditions, following the retirement at the end of 2014 of the 635-MW Vermont Yankee station.

The spent nuclear fuel at the site will be placed in storage onsite and could be there for decades.

“Losing Pilgrim as a significant power generator not only poses a potential energy shortage, but also highlights the need for clean, reliable, affordable energy proposals”, the Republican governor said.

Written by Jonathan G. Cooper, a graduate research assistant at UMass Amherst, the stated goal of “Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station Study: A Socioeconomic Analysis and Closure Transition Guide Book”, was to offer local planners a blueprint for mitigating the effects of that massive wave. Bill Mohl, president of Entergy Wholesale Commodities, said the decision to close was a “decision of last resort” and “agonizing”. When asked if that cost could speed up the shutdown process, Entergy’s acting chief of its nuclear fleet, Tim Mitchell, did not answer the question directly, only saying he company as committed to the plant’s safety. Like Pilgrim, FitzPatrick’s profitability is challenged because it competes directly with power plants that burn natural gas to make less expensive electricity.

“I have already begun coordination and oversight efforts, including at all levels of government involved, and will continue to monitor Entergy’s decommissioning plan”.