Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station
Now the only nuclear power plant operating in Massachusetts, Pilgrim Station is located a few miles down the coast from Plymouth Rock. Like many similar plants, it was constructed by Bechtel, and is powered by a General Electric reactor and generator. Built at a cost of $231 million in 1972 by Boston Edison, it was recently sold to the Louisiana-based Entergy Corporation, part of a complex deal that is the result of deregulation of the electrical utility industry. Boston Edison sold the rest of its 12 non-nuclear power plants to Sithe Energies Inc., a French-controlled power company, in 1997. As with all the more than 100 nuclear power plants in the country, Pilgrim keeps its spent fuel rods in an on site storage pool, waiting for a federal decision to determine where to inter the waste for the thousands of years it remains dangerous and unstable. The Yucca Mountain site in Nevada is the only location being considered for this purpose. Pilgrim's license to operate expires in 2012.
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