Pilgrim owner, union work to avoid strike at nuclear plant
The owner of Pilgrim nuclear plant in Plymouth and a union representing about 250 workers yesterday met with a federal mediator as they tried to avoid a threatened strike by the union and lockout by the owner.
The union, Utility Workers Union of America Local 369, completed balloting to authorize a strike against Entergy Corp. of New Orleans, but did not count the votes as part of an agreement brokered by state Secretary of Labor and Workforce Development Suzanne Bump to move negotiations forward, said union spokesman Jeremy Crockford. Bargaining under the mediator continued into last night.
"No one relishes the idea of Entergy running the plant without the 254 people who know best how to operate it safely," Crockford said.
The union and Entergy, which also owns New England's other nuclear plant, Vermont Yankee, are locked in a dispute over wages, benefits, and staffing. The contract was set to expire today at midnight, when union officials said they would strike and Entergy said it would lock out workers.
Yesterday, the union said it petitioned the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to shut down the plant if a work stoppage takes place. But David Tarantino, an Entergy spokesman, said the company is ready with the people and plan "that will allow us to operate the plant safely" without the union workers.
"If we couldn't operate the plant safely, we wouldn't operate it, " he said.
Should a strike or lockout occur, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission would keep inspectors at the plant round-the-clock to insure it operates safely, said Neil Sheehan, an NRC spokes man.
The labor dispute complicates an already complex situation for Entergy as it tries to relicense its nuclear plants and spin off its nuclear unit to form a stand-alone nuclear power company, to be called Enexus Energy Corp.
The spinoff plan comes as nuclear power gains traction in the face of soaring oil prices and concerns about global warming caused by emissions from fossil fuels such as oil, gas, and coal. Some 17 companies and consortiums are seeking licenses for about 30 new nuclear plants in the United States, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute, an industry group in Washington, D.C.
"We certainly see value in the future of nuclear," said Alex Schott, an Entergy spokesman.
The planned spinoff, however, needs state and federal approval and has raised concerns in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New York, where Entergy operates the Indian Point reactors in Westchester County, near New York City, and the FitzPatrick nuclear plant near Oswego, in upstate New York. In a filing with the state Public Service Commission, New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo opposed the spinoff, arguing the new entity could take on billions of dollars in debt while relieving Entergy of financial responsibility for the plants.
Vermont legislators, also worried about the new firm's financial capacity, passed a bill that would have required Entergy to put up about $400 million to cover Vermont Yankee's decommissioning costs as a precondition for state approval of the spinoff. Governor Jim Douglas vetoed the bill.
Earlier this year, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley filed to intervene in the spinoff proceedings before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Schott said the spinoff will have the financial wherewithal to operate and decommission the plants safely and securely. Entergy expects to complete the spinoff by the end of September.
Meanwhile, Entergy is seeking to relicense Pilgrim and Vermont Yankee, which together can generate more than 1,300 megawatts of power, about 8 percent of New England's current peak load. The plants' original 40-year licenses each expire in 2012. Entergy has filed to operate the plants for another 20 years.
Staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission have recommended that both plants get relicensed, said Sheehan, NRC spokesman.
Officials from both states have raised concerns about safety, environmental hazards, and the relicensing process. In an April filing with the NRC, Coakley urged the agency to examine more closely the risks of spent fuel stored at Pilgrim before ruling on the license.
"We believe the pending application for relicensing has failed to examine the risks of severe harm arising from intentional or accidental incidents involving the spent fuel," Coakley said in the filing.
Entergy officials said they are meeting all the criteria for relicensing. Tarantino, the Entergy spokesman at Pilgrim, said the company follows NRC regulations for handling spent fuel. "Our spent fuel is safe," he said.
Robert Gavin can be reached at rgavin@globe.com.
