Holtec International, the company entrusted by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to safely decommission the old Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, advertises itself as the go-to company to build a next gen nuclear plant near you: read here.
Maybe, but before running out and signing up for one of these technologically complex units, ask yourself this question: If Holtec cannot estimate how long it will take for all the radioactive water they want to dispose of to be fully evaporated into the air, are they capable of either safely decommissioning Pilgrim or building and operating new nuclear facilities? It strikes me as reasonable to expect a company with Holtec’s resources and expertise to be able to estimate how long water heated by them to a target temperature in a confined container will take to evaporate. Holtec said this calculation was impossible at the last oversight meeting of the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel (NDCAP).
As a member of NDCAP, I have listened to countless Holtec reports now for over a year, many characterized by great detail, complex calculations and engineering estimates. Let’s just say it defied credulity that a simple estimate of evaporation rates, even one with some error range, was impossible. Really? Impossible or inconvenient? Either way, the lack of an answer chips away even more at the credibility of the information being shared with the NDCAP and the public.
Complex undertakings, and decommissioning Pilgrim certainly qualifies by anyone’s definition of complex undertakings, rely on a certain amount of trust between the parties. The requisite trust needed to make this decommissioning process work effectively is lacking and Holtec’s approach to the disposal of the contaminated wastewater is one, but only one, reason why.
