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From https://scituate.wickedlocal.com
“What are your thoughts on Holtec not negotiating with Plymouth?
Aug 3, 2019 at 6:00 AM

Jam session is an opinion forum offering comments on issues from a group of Plymouth residents. It appears on the Forum pages in the Weekend edition of the OCM.

The newspaper poses a question to the group each week, and participants choose whether to comment. This column is designed to bring the voices of well-informed residents into the Forum page to address issues, one at a time.

Participants cross the local political spectrum and live throughout the town. Some are current or past Town Meeting representatives, and all are active in the community. We hope their diverse points of view will encourage discussion of the issues Plymouth faces.
 
This week’s question

Holtec International says it won’t negotiate plant decommissioning with Plymouth until its purchase of Pilgrim Station from Entergy is approved. What are your thoughts on this development?
 
Pat Adelmann
For the NRC to even consider granting Holtec a license without fully vetting Holtec’s past practices and qualifications would be a careless endeavor. Holtec should meet with the town of Plymouth and the state to guarantee that the town and the state are protected from financial burden and environmental impact of decommissioning before any application for the license. The NRC has a history of leniency in regulating the nuclear industry. Our federal delegation and the agencies which appointed members to the Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel need to advocate loud and clear to the NRC and Holtec the demands of Plymouth and Massachusetts.

I read something about a bus going down to demonstrate at Holtec in New Jersey. Multiple demonstrations would put even more pressure on the NRC and Holtec to do the right thing.

Pat Adelmann has been a Plymouth resident since 1977 and is a mother of five Plymouth Public School graduates, a proud grandmother of 12, a former School Committee member and a former Town Meeting representative.
 
Jay Beauregard
Makes sense. They don’t own it yet so how could they legally do that anyhow? Jay Beauregard, born and raised in Plymouth, served four years in the Marine Corps and has worked for 38 years at a local company. He is a Libertarian who served three terms as a Town Meeting rep from Precinct 6.
 
Jeff Berger
I think it is 100 percent B.S. (baloney sausage). Plymouth needs to compel them to get to the table and prove to us that they are capable of doing this. Otherwise it’s like kids playing with matches…in a shed filled with dynamite.

The fact that they have such an overwhelmingly arrogant attitude speaks volumes about them. If we haven’t already done so, we need to get the Massachusetts attorney general deeply involved to stop this in its tracks for the safety of all concerned. This is quite insane.

A Plymouth resident for more than 40 years, Jeff Berger is founder and owner of JMB Communications / websitesthatworkusa.com and everythingsxm.com as well as Northeast Ambassador for SkyMed International, http://www.getskymed.com. He is a former chairman of Plymouth’s Nuclear Matters Committee and its Cable Advisory Committee.
 
Karen Buechs
From what I understand, Holtec does not have the greatest of reputation with the communities in which they conduct business. I know the town has tried negotiating but at this date to no avail.

I don’t blame the town for being skeptical regarding Holtec negotiating after the deal is done. Seems we are held hostage and have no control over our own future. And it’s not for a lack of trying.

We shall see how this shakes out, but to tell you the truth I suspect we will be disappointed in the outcome. I hope I’m wrong.

Karen Buechs is a Town Meeting representative and serves as chair of Precinct 7. She sat on the Manomet Steering Committee, Manomet Village Common Inc., Capital Outlay Committee and the Revenue Idea Task Force. She also served as Charter Commission member and on three Charter Review Committees. Karen has been a resident of Plymouth for 46 years.
 
Rick Caproni
Holtec is at best a corporate criminal enterprise who along with Entergy and the NRC will roll over, bully, and intimidate our local leaders, who essentially have no bargaining leverage to make Pilgrim safe. Our town leaders made a deal with the devil named Boston Edison many years ago and the future of our town is in jeopardy as a result.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Warren is running for president and travelling to Iowa and other places which have no stake in our safety. She should pledge to resign if she wins her party’s nomination. Senator Markey is another swamp dweller who seems much more interested in illegal aliens at the southern border than the citizens of the commonwealth. Rep. Keating is the consummate politician who seems only to be interested in getting reelected without regard for the safety of this broken-down facility.

How did we elect these useless demigods to our Congress? Will we vote them out of office? One can only hope.

Many political pundits want the government to get into the healthcare, environmental, energy and other businesses such as nuclear power. Will we never learn that the failures of these politicians along with their proposed initiatives will lay waste to our most treasured institutions?

Holtec has no reason to negotiate with our leaders. We can demand hearings but will not get the results we want or need. In simple terms, we are powerless.

Rick Caproni is a Town Meeting representative from Precinct 15, a retired equipment leasing executive and a self described political activist.
 
Birgitta Kuehn
One of the “deals” most impactful for Plymouth’s future is the one between Entergy and the buyer, who will be responsible for safe, long-term decommissioning. Every person living, working and visiting Plymouth will be impacted. Plymouth leadership’s ability to assure that the “deal” is favorable to Plymouth is every bit the responsibility of those elected and hired to run our town. Should we ask the Holtec team members if they would consider signing a P&S for their own home purchase without negotiating upfront? Why do they insist that Plymouth accept what they would personally reject? Stay strong Plymouth leaders – it’s your job!

Birgitta Kuehn is a recently retired clinician and healthcare executive. She serves as chairwoman of the Board of Health and alternate to the Planning Board, and Town Meeting Rep for Precinct 15. Her commitment to volunteering spans local conservation and environmental groups, PACTV “The Plymouth Show” and the League of Women Voters.
 
Heidi Mayo
Plymouth has always been victimized by the NRC whose function is not to “protect people and the environment” but to protect the profits of the nuke industry. Nothing has changed.

It’s pretty obvious Holtec is not reputable, and historically not qualified to expertly decommission our nuke. They would just do the minimum required by their buddies at NRC, and take the money and run, leaving us with the nuclear waste dump and centuries of environmental and public safety concerns that go with it.

No sale until NRC has investigated Pilgrim Watch’s and the commonwealth’s petitions and contentions, and looked into Holtec’s and its partners’ shady practices and ability to perform. I hate to say it, but it feels like we’ll be steamrolled into submission by these vultures who won’t negotiate.

Is there another decommissioning outfit out there that isn’t as dirty as Holtec? What are the options?

Heidi Mayo is an award-winning author, artist and teacher of fine art. She has served on many boards including the Recycling Committee, Rising Tide Charter School, Plymouth Guild for the Arts, and PACTV, and is currently active with the League of Women Voters and the Patriots of Indivisible Plymouth.
 
David Peck
I understand their position, but do not like it. If Holtec holds out until after approval, they have few if any incentives to negotiate anything. If negotiations with Plymouth happen prior to their approval by the NRC, there might be additional costs that they would incur in taking over Pilgrim. These costs might be in providing safe decommissioning and compensation to the town, through a fair and equitable PILOT agreement, for the open-ended storage of nuclear waste. If the costs incurred through negotiation become too high, Holtec could walk, leaving us with Entergy as the continuing owner.

And we know how uneven their commitment to safety has been. I would far prefer that Holtec negotiate in advance, like the marijuana establishments had to do for a community host agreement. We want them to be good neighbors, and to share the goals of a rapid and safe decommissioning. I also hope that they would join the town in pushing the federal government to establish the promised nuclear waste storage….somewhere safe and not in Plymouth. We don’t want Holtec to play hardball with the town.

David Peck is the retired director of Facility Planning at Boston Children’s Hospital. He serves as the chairman of the Plymouth Building Committee and vice-chairman of the Zoning Board of Appeals. He is a Town Meeting representative from Precinct 4.
 
Ed Russell
Holtec’s takeover could turn out to be one of the worst things to ever befall Plymouth. The company has a checkered history and never having done this before they will be experimenting with our future health and safety. Maybe it will work out, but maybe it will be a Chernobyl. Sadly, we have no control whatsoever over what Holtec or the NRC will do. Who will be here for thousands of years to provide security and replace aged nuclear storage casks – casks that will not be going anywhere? Entergy and Holtec and their limited liability entities will long have been dissolved, so Plymouth taxpayers are the most likely suspects to police the stored casks from terrorists. Eons from now, when nuclear energy’s short history will be shrouded in the mists of time, I can imagine passersby looking past a tall fence to the ocean’s edge where thousands of greying, still warm, concrete casks line up in rows like so many headstones in a cemetery. It was a devil’s bargain when we were promised that someone would take this legacy away – that will not happen and the costs, risks and tax increases will go on forever.

Ed Russell is an attorney and a Precinct 12 Town Meeting representative, and he serves on a number of town committees.

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