Upon the recommendation of the Nuclear Advisory Committee, selectmen voted to request the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) recognize the town of Duxbury as a participant in its hearings regarding implementing specific safety measures at the Pilgrim nuclear power plant in Plymouth.

Mary “Pixie” Lampert of the Nuclear Advisory Committee explained that the committee wants the NRC to do more to address the safety concerns at Pilgrim

Pilgrim is the twin of Fukushima, the nuclear power plant that melted down after a tsunami and earthquake in Japan last year, and it has the same design flaw: the reactors are susceptible to hydrogen explosions if there is excess pressure buildup.

Pilgrim was equipped with a relief vent in the late 1980s to address the pressure build-up problem, but, according to Lampert, not only does the vent not work, it isn’t filtered, meaning it would let radiation escape into the community.

“Three times it was tested and three times it failed,” she said of the vent. “The NRC failed to require filters on the vents so that means all the radioactive material would be released.”

Lampert said a better, filtered vent system would cost Pilgrim’s owner Entergy $3 million, and she said that it should be installed before the plant is relicensed for another 20 years.

“What they need is an overhaul, because what they have has been demonstrated not to work,” she said. “There should be a filter on those vents.”

At the Special Town Meeting earlier this month, voters approved sending a message that Duxbury opposes the operation of Pilgrim until all safety improvements recommended by the NRC have been implemented. Other towns in the region are taking similar votes in an effort to present a united front to state and federal officials, and to Pilgrim. The NRC knows about the vent problems at Pilgrim, but has been unwilling to force changes. At previous Town Meetings, voters endorsed similar messages, such as asking the NRC to require Entergy to use dry casks to store the spent nuclear fuel instead of leaving it in spent fuel pools, which Lampert said are overloaded. The spent fuel pools at Pilgrim were originally designed to hold 880 spent fuel rods; they now contain 3,285, she said.

In their vote, selectmen wanted it noted that they support the position of residents as outlined in the previous Town Meeting votes and that they don’t feel that the NRC’s most recent orders regarding Pilgrim go far enough to protect Duxbury residents.