Seawater temps too high for Pilgrim cooling By CHRISTINE LEGERE clegere@capecodonline.com July 18, 2013 PLYMOUTH — The ongoing heat wave could force Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station to shut down, as soaring temperatures continue to warm the Cape Cod Bay waters that the plant relies on to cool key safety
systems. Pilgrim’s license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission requires the water being drawn from the bay to be no warmer than 75 degrees. On Tuesday night, the temperature in the saltwater system reached 75.3 degrees and remained above the 75-degree limit for about 90 minutes.
If water temperatures rise and show no sign of lowering, the plant has 24 hours to completely shut down.
“The water temperature will be closely monitored as the heat wave persists,” NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan wrote in an email.
The temperature of seawater being drawn from the bay must be low enough to cool the water circulating around the reactor and transform steam from the system back to liquid water.
Although the seawater is warmer when it is discharged back into the bay, it must not be so warm it affects the ecosystem……Mary Lampert, chairwoman of the Duxbury Nuclear Advisory Committee and director of the anti-nuclear group Pilgrim Watch, fired off a letter to NRC officials Wednesday, urging the agency to shut down the Pilgrim plant until the cause of the alarm system failure is found.
“Until that is done, we fail to see how the NRC can provide reasonable assurance for public health and safety,” Lampert wrote.http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20130718/NEWS/307180318
