A Japanese film crew was in Wiscasset last week to interview Maine Yankee spokesperson Eric Howes and residents regarding the Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant.

The Nippon Hoso Kyokol (NHK) Japan Broadcasting Corporation based in New York, which is similar to the United States Public Television, sent a film crew for a three-day visit to chat with Maine residents about nuclear power.

The visit was in preparation of a feature on nuclear power in the United States, marking the second anniversary of Fukushima, which is scheduled to air March 11.

Friday morning, March 1, Howes was interviewed on the Wiscasset’s Old Ferry Road overlooking Bailey Point Peninsula, and Maine Yankee’s Independent Spent Fuel Installation.

According to Howes, the crew was interested in Maine Yankee as a former nuclear power plant that continues to exist only because the federal government has not fulfilled its obligation to remove the spent fuel and Greater than Class C waste from the site as required by contract and the Nuclear Waste Policy Act.

They asked about decommissioning of Maine Yankee, the storage of spent fuel in dry cask, Maine Yankee’s ongoing litigation with the federal government to recover monetary damages for the ratepayers, and the Department of Energy’s strategy report that came out the first of this year for the management and disposal of spent fuel, Howes said.

Howes told them the Yankee Nuclear companies (Maine Yankee, Massachusetts’ Yankee Rowe, and Connecticut Yankee) are encouraged by DOE’s strategy report that calls for the establishment of a pilot project to move spent nuclear fuel from decommissioned reactors sites to interim storage in a volunteer host community. 

Howes said, “I told them we hope Congress will act this session to implement the reforms necessary for this to happened,  but we are well aware of the significant hurdles that must be overcome to reform the spent fuel management program, and that we expect spent nuclear fuel to remain at Maine Yankee for many years.”

Ken Obara from NHK posed questions to Wiscasset residents as they came out of the post office on March 1. One question posed to residents was: “What are your concerns about the spent nuclear fuel being stored there?”

Boothbay resident Shawn Griffith, pictured above, replied that fuel storage at Maine Yankee is an important issue that merits more discussion.

According to Obara, it has been two years since a massive earthquake shook Fukushima, Japan, causing significant damage to the nuclear power plant there. 

Since then, residents have been living with the threat of released radioactive material in their environment. “It's an ongoing situation,” Obara said. “Something that doesn't resolve itself, and we have to question how to cope with the effects of nuclear energy.”

Charlotte Boynton can be reached at 207-844-4632 or cboynton@wiscassetneewspaper.com.