Pilgrim

Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, which closed in 2019, was a boiling water reactor. Water constantly circulated through the reactor vessel and nuclear fuel, ...

Holtec would have to handle it the same way, by filtering it, putting it into a tank, analyzing the radio isotopes and calculating the environmental impacts if it was released in batches, he added. Evaporating the water would be more challenging to do now because the spent nuclear fuel is in storage, and couldn’t be used as a heat source. Mary Lampert, of Duxbury, is on a panel created by the state to look at issues related to the Pilgrim’s decommissioning. However, Holtec would need permission from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency if the water contained pollutants regulated by the Clean Water Act, such as dissolved metals. Discharge, evaporation and some limited transportation will likely all be part of the solution, Holtec added. Holtec could treat the water and discharge it in batches over multiple years, likely the least expensive option. He said it’s important to consider the role of dilution — once the discharges mix with vast quantities of water any radioactivity is typically not detectable. Holtec is also considering evaporating the contaminated water or trucking it to a facility in another state. “We can’t change that, but we can change what’s happening in the future,” said Cutler, the state lawmaker. The fight in Massachusetts mirrors a current, heated debate in Japan over a plan to release more than 1 million tons of treated radioactive wastewater into the ocean from the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant in spring 2023. Water constantly circulated through the reactor vessel and nuclear fuel, converting it to steam to spin the turbine. Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth, Massachusetts, closed in 2019 after nearly half a century providing electricity to the region.