There is a million gallons of radioactive water inside a former nuclear power plant. Will the state intervene as the company dismantles the plant? Local residents, shell fishermen and politicians are against the idea of treating the water and discharging it into the bay. The contaminated water may be trucked to a facility in another state. The fight in Massachusetts is similar to the debate in Japan over a plan to release more than 1 million tons of treated radioactive wastewater into the ocean. The plant was hit by a huge wave in 2011. The three reactor melted down. The Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Massachusetts closed in 2019. In January, William Keating, a Democrat from the district that includes the Cape, wrote a letter opposing the release of water into Cape Cod Bay. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission was asked to examine its regulations. Keating said in March that the handling of the radioactive water could set a precedent because the U.S. is in its infancy. Between 1970 and 1990 most U.S. nuclear plants were built. He said it was important if they were listening, sensitive and working with the communities. The former Oyster Creek Generating Station in New Jersey and Indian Point Energy Center in New York are two closed nuclear plants that have been acquired by Holtec. The Palisades Nuclear Plant on Lake Michigan is closing this year. Pilgrim was a boiling water reactor. Water circulates through the reactor vessel and nuclear fuel, turning it to steam to spin the turbine. The water was cooled and recirculated. Cape Cod is a popular tourist destination. The radioactive water in the bay is not great for marketing, according to a state lawmaker. Legislation is being worked on to prohibit the discharge of radioactive material into coastal or inland waters. Pilgrim already discharged water into the bay for 50 years while the plant was operating and environmental studies have shown little or no environmental impact. The NRC gets radioactive environmental reports every year. We are working to provide scientific data, educate the public on the reality of radiation in everyday life, and have experts explain the true science. What are the options for Hochevar? The least expensive option would be to treat the water and discharge it in batches. It has done with about 680,000 gallons of water over the past two years. The spent nuclear fuel is in storage and cannot be used as a heat source. The method that would release gas would likely be more expensive. The water could be trucked to an out-of-state facility, where it could be mixed with clay and buried, or released into local waterways. Keating wants that. Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Station, a boiling water reactor, was shut down. Wastewater is being sent to disposal specialists in Texas and other states. Vermont Yankee and Pilgrim were sold by Entergy. Vermont Yankee is being dismantled by a separate and competing corporation. Nuclear plants sometimes need to dispose of water with low levels of radioactivity, so a process to release it in batches into local waterways was developed early in the nuclear industry. In the last two years, Pilgrim has released about 310,000 gallons in the two largest releases. According to the NRC, the water from those releases was well below the federal limits for the amount of radionuclides a person would be exposed to in a year if they ate local seafood or swam in nearby waters. Neil Sheehan said the limits are set conservatively and are believed to be protective of the public and environment. Once the discharges mix with vast quantities of water any radioactivity is typically not detected. Why are people afraid? The largest concentration of oyster farms in the state last year was in Duxbury, Kingston andPlymouth Bays. The collaborative said dumping the water would hurt the industry and the economy. Diane Turco is a long time Pilgrim watchdog and questions if the water is contaminated from the pool that covered spent fuel for cooling and shielding workers from radiation. Isn't it crazy for Holtec to use our bay as their dump? She said no way. Others didn't know that Pilgrim's water went into the bay in the past. It is the first time it has ever been. Towns on the Cape are trying to prevent the dispersal of radioactive materials. Tribal leaders, fishermen, lobstermen and real estate agents have publicly stated their opposition. The water is not different from the water released during the plant's operations, according to the NRC. If it was released in batches, Holtec would have to analyze the radio isotopes, calculate the environmental impacts, and put it into a tank. Who gets the final say? The water wouldn't need to be approved by the NRC. If the water contained pollutants regulated by the Clean Water Act, Holtec would need permission from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. If the water contained only radioactive materials, the EPA would not need to modify the permit. The director of the division said that the EPA has never been given a pollutant characterization of the water associated with decommissioning. The state created a panel to look at issues related to the Pilgrim's decommissioning. She wants the Massachusetts attorney general to file a preliminary injunction to stop the dumping. The attorney general's office said it would take any Clean Water Act violations very seriously. The lab results for possible pollutants won't be available for a while. The company expects to make a decision on what to do with the water later this year. The solution will likely include discharge, evaporation and limited transportation. 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