Before It’s News – by Deborah Dupre
A nuclear power plant in Massachusetts has lost power and shut down Friday evening during a massive snowstorm with hurricane force winds, dubbed a “blizzicane.”
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has announced that a power plant in Massachusetts lost power and shut down during a massive snowstorm.
Spokesman Neil Sheehan says the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant emergency has been recorded as an unusual event, the lowest level of emergency classification.
The nuclear power plant in Plymouth experienced the automatic shutdown at around 9:15 p.m. Friday after losing off-site power.
There’s no threat to public safety, according to officials.
Over 240,000 customers, however, are without power and National Grid had 165,000, according to NStar early Saturday.
“Most of the outages are in southeastern Massachusetts and Cape Cod, where wet heavy snow and winds gusting over 75 mph have been reported.”
Pilgrim Nuclear Station is a few miles down the coast from Plymouth Rock.
Over 100,000 people live within the ten-mile Emergency Planning Zone (EPZ) radius of the nuclear facility.
New Orleans-based Entergy bought Pilgrim in Nov. 1999. Entergy established a separate limited liability and multi-tiered holding company to own and operate Pilgrim – Entergy Nuclear Generation Co.
“This organizational structure is good for Entergy shareholders but does not bode well for the safety of Pilgrim’s neighbors. It can shield the New Orleans-based parent corporation and their shareholders from liabilities,” says watchdog group Pilgrim Watch. “If there is an accident, equipment failure, safety upgrade, or unusual maintenance need at Pilgrim the parent/owner essentially can walk away, by declaring bankruptcy for Pilgrim (a separate entity) without jeopardizing its other investments.
“Because of the hazardous nature of nuclear power plants, this limited liability arrangement is extremely problematic. Safety would be better assured if the owners and shareholders were held liable.”
The NRC says the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Plant in Plymouth experienced an automatic shutdown at around 9:15 p.m. Friday after losing off-site power. Spokesman Neil Sheehan says the plant has declared an unusual event, which is the lowest level of emergency classification.
I would think that any time that a nuclear plant gets shut down that it would be a major problem. I don`t trust them any more than I can pee through a brick wall – especially when they say that the plant “declared it an unusual event, which is the lowest level of emergency clasification”. Watch and see, I think that there is going to be a major nuclear plant disaster this year in America. I can almost bet on it.
They’re already working one up right here in CA, with San Onofre. It’s not all that far from where I live.