New York Seeks to Block Nuclear Plant License Renewal

New York Governor Eliot Spitzer, Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, and Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano have submitted documents asking the federal government to deny the relicensing of Indian Point sought by owner-operator Entergy Corporation.

The papers filed with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, NRC, identify dangerous deficiencies in Entergy's relicensing application for Indian Point related to terrorism, earthquakes, evacuation plans, and the surrounding population density.

"The Indian Point relicensing application wholly fails to address a number of crucial issues, and it should not be granted in its present form," said Governor Spitzer.

In a statement from its White Plains office, Entergy replied that a forced shutdown of the Indian Point Energy Center "would severely impact the economic and environmental health of the Lower Hudson Valley region and New York City."

Indian Point nuclear power plant on the Hudson River at Buchanan, New York. (Photo courtesy NRC)

"I have repeatedly stated that we should close Indian Point as soon as there is sufficient replacement power available," the governor said, "and in the interim we will continue to insist that all environmental, safety and security issues are fully evaluated and addressed, in order to protect the health and safety of the communities surrounding the plant."

"We cannot continue to roll the dice with the operation of Indian Point - there is simply too much at stake," said Cuomo. "The NRC has repeatedly ignored the danger that Indian Point poses to New Yorkers - from its vulnerability to a terrorist attack, to its incapability to withstand potential earthquakes, to its lack of a plausible evacuation plan in the event of a catastrophe. We must do what is safest for New York and close Indian Point."

"This is not only my position," said Spano, "but the position of our Board of Legislators which passed a resolution to that effect back in 2003."

The petition to intervene released today focuses on safety issues:

• Proximity to the most densely populated area in the United States: About 20 million people – six percent of the nation's population – live or work within 50 miles of Indian Point.


• Susceptibility to a terrorist attack and other security risks: The 9/11 Commission reported that al-Qaeda terrorists had specifically contemplated attacking nuclear power plants with aircraft, and two of the planes hijacked on September 11, 2001 flew near or over Indian Point. The NRC refuses to require Entergy to safeguard Indian Point against terrorist attacks from the air.


• Vulnerability to geographic and seismic issues: Indian Point is located near a fault line in New York State and it was not designed to withstand the seismic forces that the U.S. Geological Survey says are possible.


• Lack of acceptable emergency warning system or evacuation plan: 2006 marked the fourth straight year that Westchester, Rockland, and Orange Counties refused to certify county-based evacuation plans prepared by Entergy, in large part because safe evacuation of the area has been found to be highly unlikely, if not impossible.


• Indian Point is aging: After nearly 40 years of operation, the containment structure and reactor components have weakened, increasing the risk of a radioactive leak.

"Leaks of tritium and strontium-90 have seeped into the groundwater underneath the plant and there is evidence they have reached the Hudson River," they said. "In addition, the facility stores radioactive materials on-site because there is no long-term depository for high level nuclear waste."

Replacing Indian Point's emission free power would mean a greater reliance on fossil-fuel burning plants, countered the company, "leading to a 20 percent rise in carbon dioxide emissions, a 19 percent jump in nitrous oxide emissions combined with an 11 percent hike in sulfur dioxide emissions."

Since purchasing the two nuclear generators in Buchanan, New York, more than six years ago, Entergy says it has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Indian Point as part of its ongoing effort to improve and maintain the plant's operating systems and to ensure that safety and security levels are among the highest in the nation.

"That level of investment and commitment has transformed Indian Point into one of the most reliable and best performing plants in the region, with a capacity factor of 93 percent over the last three years," Entergy said.

"When you consider that the New York City subways and the Metropolitan Transit Authority's Metro North trains are among just a few of key governmental facilities that depend on power from Indian Point, the importance of a reliable, lower cost supply of electricity becomes clear," said the company.

But the company's arguments failed to persuade U.S. Congressman John Hall, who represents the district in which Indian Point is located. "Indian Point is everything a nuclear power plant shouldn't be. It has a history of operating problems, it has been leaking tritium and cancer-causing strontium-90 for several years, and it is located in the most densely populated region of the United States."

"Today's announcement underscores that our local, state and federal representatives are united in their determination not to let these or any other unsafe nuclear power plants in our state get a new 20 year lease on life from the NRC," Hall said.

Alex Matthiessen, president of Riverkeeper, a nonprofit that has been working for years to shut down Indian Point, said, "With an evacuation plan declared 'unworkable and unfixable,' inadequate protections against a terrorist attack, and an abysmal safety record, Indian Point poses an incalculable risk to public health and safety."

"With radiation leaking into the Hudson and outdated technology that kills over a billion fish each year, Indian Point is also a menace to our natural environment," he said.

Entergy's initial 40 year operating licenses for its two reactors, Reactor Unit 2 and Reactor Unit 3, expire in 2013 and 2015.

On April 30, 2007, Entergy applied to the NRC for a 20 year license extension for its operating reactors. On August 1, 2007, the NRC began reviewing its application. Any final decision by the NRC regarding the relicensing of the Indian Point facility is reviewable by the federal Court of Appeals.

The Indian Point decision could have far-reaching effects since the nuclear branch of the corporation, Entergy Nuclear, is the nation''s largest provider of license renewal and decommissioning services to the nuclear power industry.

The Atomic Safety Licensing Board, a panel of three administrative law judges, is expected to decide in March 2008 on whether to grant or deny the petition for intervention submitted today by the state of New York.

On November 15, Attorney General Cuomo and the attorneys general of five other states submitted a letter to the NRC expressing serious concerns about the NRC's continued disregard of critical safety issues during its relicensing process.

The NRC process for renewing power plant licenses has been called into question by the watchdog charged with oversight of the federal agency.

A report by the Inspector General for the NRC from September 6, 2007 states, "Licensing reporting efforts need improvements," and "those who read reports could conclude that regulatory decisions are not adequately reviewed and documented." It also states that, "Licensees could enter into the extended period of operation without being in full compliance with license renewal terms."

NRC's relicensing regulations were developed in 1991 and 1995, when the NRC decided that limiting the scope of its inquiry would make the relicensing process "more stable and predictable" for the licensees.

Under these regulations, the NRC has granted 49 licenses renewals and has yet to deny one.

Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2007. All rights reserved.