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TheSausageKing t1_ix89hgh wrote

Reply to comment by wittgensteins-boat in Higher energy prices are a call for more renewables and maybe nuclear, not more pipelines by TeacherGuy1980

Pilgrim was closed because of local NIMBYs and politicians inc. Warren blocked every attempt to make it continue or expand, and pledged to phase out all nuclear by 2035. The costs of lawsuits and regulatory risks made it too expensive, so every company that wanted to make it work gave up.

So, yes, technically it was cost (and risk) that caused Pilgrim to close, but it was costs created by protestors and politicians.

Had the project been welcomed with open arms, it would be operating today.

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wittgensteins-boat t1_ixamr1y wrote

Warren has no authority to block anything. She is not the NRC, not FERC, nor a shareholder.

Entergy already had the nuclear license extension in hand, for the extended life of the reactor. The plant would need major rebuilding as a 50 year old project.

Selling electricity at a loss compared to ability to recover new expenditure of capital for repairs is decisive.

When natural gas was tremendously cheap, and a natural gas powered electric plant easy to build or convert from oil, nuclear did not demonstrate capability for return on capital for an aging plant and showed low prospects with gas likely to stay cheap for the coming forseeable future and decade, in a changing electricity market regime.

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TheSausageKing t1_ixb19ru wrote

You don’t think a sitting senator writing dozens of letters to the NRC and publicly opposing a plant in her district makes a difference in the odds that plant happens?

ok. 👍

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wittgensteins-boat t1_ixbj8p4 wrote

The plant had the license, and authority to continue operating.

This was an economic decision of the follow-on owner, Entergy, subsequent to Boston Edison's sale to Entergy, deciding to exit. Entergy had received a license extension in 2006, relicensed through 2026, but exited in, 2019, not even bothering to take six more years of operating income on the plant.

Entergy transferred to a decommissioning organization, and exited the merchant nuclear power business, fulfilling its corporate plan to divest itself of merchant nuclear assets. It continues to operate nuclear plants in its home utility territory in Southern US.

References.

"Accelerated Decommissioning of Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station: A Progress Report." Power Magazine. March 2022.
https://www.powermag.com/accelerated-decommissioning-of-pilgrim-nuclear-power-station-a-progress-report/

Entergy completes plan to exit Merchant Nuclear operations
Energy Corporate announcement https://www.entergynewsroom.com/news/entergy-completes-sale-palisades-power-plant-holtec/

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