![]() In 2005, the National Academy of Sciences told Congress that the spent fuel pools at nuclear reactors in this country are vulnerable to terrorist attack. Because the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste storage facility was cancelled in 2009, spent fuel pools holding nuclear waste at the 104 nuclear plants in the United States are overcrowded and there is nowhere to move the fuel to. Risks that will not be considered in the relicensing hearings include the problem of nuclear waste. The plant lacks certain equipment normally used to meet the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s fire safety regulations, relying instead on substitute measures such as manual operation of equipment and only six out of the 30 fire zones inspected at the plant were in compliance with regulations. Riverkeeper is concerned about fire safety at Indian Point. Entergy has invested hundreds of millions of dollars to upgrade the plant and make it safe, and “There is no facility in America that has been inspected as much as Indian Point by the federal government,” Kremer, of the electricity alliance, said. ![]() ![]() Kelly, the former licensing director, countered that nuclear plants always have components that break and need to be replaced. Riverkeeper contends that 40 years of these impacts on the ecosystem have contributed to the decline of 10 of the 13 keystone Hudson River fish species.Ī General Accounting Office study done last year found that “as plants age and corrosion worsens, you’re going to have a larger risk to the heath and safety of people associated with this plant because of the risk of leaking buried pipes,” said Gallay. In addition, water used for cooling the plant is released back into the river at up to 110° F, 34 degrees above the river’s normal temperature. Consequently, in 2010, Indian Point was denied a critical water quality certification because the plant continues to harm aquatic life in the Hudson Entergy is now challenging the denial.Īccording to Riverkeeper’s Gallay, the wedgewire screen alternative that Entergy has proposed to protect fish has never been installed at a nuclear facility, and is 30 to 40 percent less effective at controlling damage to fish. The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation ordered Entergy to install closed-cycle cooling at the plant, which would reduce fish mortality by about 95 percent, but Entergy challenged the ruling. A billion plus aquatic organisms (fish, fish eggs, larvae shrimp, crabs) are killed each year as Indian Point sucks in 2.5 billion gallons of Hudson River water each day to cool the plant (nearly twice the amount of drinking water consumed daily by all of New York City). Indian Point has a significant impact on Hudson River ecology. Issues related to nuclear waste storage, terrorism, population density and evacuation plans, and seismic hazards are not considered in the relicensing review. The plant must demonstrate that its physical structures and systems can be maintained safely for another 20 years. Contrary to what one might expect, the license renewal process focuses only on environmental effects and physical plant safety. Riverkeeper, New York State and other groups, will challenge the relicensing on issues ranging from leaking buried pipes and metal fatigue of reactor components, to contamination of the Hudson River from radioactive waste leaks, and the plant’s impacts on endangered species. The relicensing hearing will begin later this year, with a decision expected in late 2012 or early 2013. Nevertheless, today Indian Point’s two reactors, which began operating in 19, generate up to 30 percent of New York City and Westchester’s power. Indian Point “never should have been built so close to New York City and 20 million people and could not be built there under today’s rules,” wrote former 14-term New York State Assemblyman Richard Brodsky in the Huffington Post recently. Arthur “Jerry” Kremer, a founder and chairman of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance, and John Kelly, retired director of licensing for Indian Point, support relicensing. Paul Gallay, president of Riverkeeper, and Ashok Gupta, director of energy policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council, want Indian Point retired. On March 1, four experts debated some of the issues at stake at the Forum on the Future of Indian Point held at Columbia Law School and moderated by Michael Gerrard, director of the Center for Climate Change Law. ![]() Supporters say the plant is safe, and that the New York region cannot do without the power. Opponents of relicensing maintain that the aging plant poses real risks, and that the electricity it provides can be replaced. In 2007, Entergy Corporation, owner of the Indian Point nuclear power plant, 30 miles north of New York City in Buchanan, N.Y., applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for 20-year license extensions on its two nuclear reactors.
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