If you drive down to Rocky Point in Plymouth, Massachusetts, you’ll see it. That massive, grey, weathered silhouette of the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station still dominates the coastline, even though it hasn't split an atom for commercial power since 2019. It’s a strange thing. Most people think when a plant "closes," it just... disappears. Like a light switch being flipped.
That isn't how nuclear physics works. Honestly, it isn't even how real estate works when there's spent uranium involved.
The nuclear power plant Plymouth residents lived with for nearly fifty years is currently in the middle of a messy, expensive, and deeply controversial "deconstruction" phase. It’s basically a massive industrial demolition project where the stakes are radioactive. Holtec International, the company that bought the site from Entergy, is tasked with cleaning up the mess. But "cleaning up" a nuclear site is never as simple as knocking down a chimney.
Why the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station Closed in the First Place
Money. Usually, it's always money.
While there were decades of protests from local groups like Pilgrim Watch and Cape Downwinders, the final nail in the coffin wasn't a protest sign. It was the price of natural gas. Around 2015, the fracking boom made natural gas incredibly cheap, and older, single-reactor plants like Pilgrim simply couldn't compete in the ISO New England market.
Pilgrim was a Boiling Water Reactor (BWR). Specifically, a General Electric Type 3. It started up in 1972. By the time 2019 rolled around, the infrastructure was tired. Maintenance costs were skyrocketing. The NRC (Nuclear Regulatory Commission) had placed it in "Column 4" of its oversight safety matrix at one point, which is basically the principal's office for nuclear plants.
You've got to understand the scale here. We are talking about a facility that provided about 14% of the electricity for the entire state of Massachusetts. When it went dark on May 31, 2019, it left a massive hole in the grid that was largely filled by—you guessed it—fossil fuels. This is the paradox of nuclear power plant Plymouth history: the closure was a win for local safety activists, but a temporary loss for carbon-free energy goals in the Bay State.
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The Water Fight: Holtec vs. The South Shore
The biggest drama right now isn't about the reactor core. It's about the water.
Holtec International has been sitting on roughly one million gallons of radioactive wastewater. This is water used to cool the spent fuel pools. They wanted to discharge it into Cape Cod Bay. They argued it was treated and within federal safety limits.
The locals? They lost it.
Environmentalists, fishermen, and local homeowners in Plymouth, Kingston, and Duxbury formed a wall of opposition. They worried about tritium. Tritium is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen that is notoriously hard to filter out. Even at low levels, the idea of dumping it into a bay that supports a multi-million dollar lobster and shellfish industry felt like an existential threat.
The state stepped in. In 2023 and 2024, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) issued several rulings that basically blocked the discharge, citing the Ocean Sanctuaries Act. Holtec has fought back, claiming federal law (the Atomic Energy Act) overrides state law. It’s a classic legal stalemate.
What’s actually in the water?
Mostly it's tritium, but there are trace amounts of other isotopes like Cesium-137 and Cobalt-60. While the NRC says the levels are "safe," the psychological impact on the Plymouth brand is what people fear. Nobody wants "Radioactive Lobster" on the menu, even if the science says it's fine.
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The Reality of Decommissioning: It’s a 60-Year Marathon
People think decommissioning means the plant is gone by next summer. Nope.
Holtec opted for a "DECON" strategy, which is the fast-track version. Even "fast" takes decades. They’ve already moved the spent fuel from the wet pools into "Dry Casks." These are massive concrete and steel canisters sitting on a pad on-site.
- The Casks: They aren't going anywhere. Because the U.S. doesn't have a central repository (thanks to the political death of Yucca Mountain), Plymouth is now a de facto long-term nuclear waste storage site.
- The Buildings: The turbine building and the reactor vessel have to be chopped up, piece by piece, and shipped by rail to specialized landfills out West.
- The Soil: They have to test every inch of dirt. If a pipe leaked in 1984, that soil has to be dug up and remediated.
It’s a gritty, mechanical process. It involves robotic cutters, heavy shielding, and a lot of guys in yellow Tyvek suits.
The Economic Hole in Plymouth’s Pocket
Let’s talk about the town of Plymouth itself. For decades, the nuclear power plant Plymouth was the "Golden Goose." It paid millions in taxes. It funded the schools, the roads, and the police department.
When the plant retired, the tax revenue dropped significantly. While there was a "PILOT" (Payment in Lieu of Taxes) agreement to soften the blow, the town has had to tighten its belt. There’s also the job loss. At its peak, Pilgrim employed over 600 highly skilled workers. Most of those people are gone now, replaced by a smaller crew of demolition experts and security guards.
Some people want to see the land turned into a park. Others want a marina. But because of the "ISFSI" (Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation)—the waste casks—a huge chunk of that prime waterfront property is essentially unusable for anything else for the foreseeable future. You can’t put a playground next to a row of high-level waste containers, regardless of how thick the concrete is.
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Is Nuclear Ever Coming Back to Plymouth?
There’s a lot of talk lately about SMRs—Small Modular Reactors. With the push for Net Zero, some people wonder if the Pilgrim site could host a new generation of smaller, safer reactors.
Honestly? It's unlikely.
The site is already being dismantled. The transmission lines are there, which is a plus, but the political climate in Massachusetts is currently skewed toward offshore wind and solar. While companies like TerraPower or NuScale are making waves elsewhere, the "Plymouth" brand is still too tied up in the controversy of the old plant for a new one to slide in easily.
Actionable Steps for Locals and Observers
If you’re following the nuclear power plant Plymouth situation, here is what you actually need to do to stay informed or get involved:
- Monitor the NDCAP Meetings: The Nuclear Decommissioning Citizens Advisory Panel meets regularly. These meetings are where the real granular updates happen. You can find their schedule on the Massachusetts government website. They often have representatives from Holtec and the NRC present.
- Check the Real-Time Radiation Monitors: The Massachusetts Department of Public Health (DPH) maintains radiation monitors around the perimeter of the plant. You can actually look up the data. If you’re worried about "invisible leaks," the data is public.
- Support Local Shellfish Efforts: Regardless of your stance on nuclear power, the local fishing industry is the backbone of Plymouth. Buying local seafood is the best way to counteract the negative PR the plant's closure has generated.
- Understand the "Dry Cask" Reality: Acceptance is the first step. Those casks are going to be there for a long time—likely decades. If you are moving to the area, do your research on where the ISFSI is located in relation to your property. It’s perfectly safe according to all current physics models, but it affects property perception.
The story of the nuclear power plant Plymouth isn't a history lesson; it's an ongoing industrial project. It represents the weird, liminal space we’re in globally: moving away from old-school nuclear power while still figuring out what to do with the heavy, radioactive footprints we've left behind on our coastlines. It’s quiet at the plant now, but under that quiet, there is a lot of work—and a lot of politics—left to do.