14 Protesters Arrested Outside Plymouth Nuclear Plant

PLYMOUTH (CBS) - Fourteen members of the group Cape Downwinders were arrested Sunday while demonstrating at the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station, hoping to get it shut down.

WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker reports.

The demonstrators said their message is simple.

"The Pilgrim nuclear facility is a dangerous facility and it should be shut down," said Paul Rifkin, a member of the group.

The group wants to deliver a letter to Pilgrim's owners, Entergy, demanding that they cease operations, pointing to the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan as a wake-up call to action.

"It's a 40-year-old plant and they want to license it for another 20 years. We don't want the nuclear regulatory commission to re-license that plant," said Rifkin.

In the letter, the group says the continued operation of the plant is an unacceptable threat to health and public safety and they also want an evacuation preparedness plan to include Cape Cod.

The group worries a power failure at the plant could be catastrophic, and the members have doubts about how a mass evacuation from the Cape, given its only two exit points, would work.

"We're hoping that NRC upholds their mandate to provide for the public health and safety and not re-license the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station in Plymouth," said Diane Turko, who was one of the protesters arrested for trespassing.

The plant's current license expires June 8th and they are hoping to renew for another 20 years.