How Long Can New York Dodge The Double Barrel Shotgun That Is Indian Point?`

Indian Point...Our Chernobyl On The Hudson

Earlier this year a major earthquake coupled with a Tsunami caused the worst nuclear reactor accident the world has ever seen, Chernobyl paling in comparison to the nuclear fallout that has been and is being experienced after the TEPCO company experienced nuclear meltdowns of both reactors and spent fuel pools at its Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan. Just a few weeks ago the East Coast of America experienced an unexpected 5.8 on the Richter Scale earthquake that forced the shutdown of the North Anna plants owned by Dominion Power...in initial reports, the company, much like TEPCO lied about the severity of the damage at these reactors, telling both the NRC and the public that everything was fine.

Entergy, TEPCO, Dominion Power...THEY ALL CHEAT...can we risk that?

Not surprisingly, Dominion has not always operated lawfully. The energy giant has been subject to a slew of lawsuits and government violations. In its quest to perpetually increase profits, the effect of this corporate behemoth’s operations on the health and welfare of the public is notalways taken into consideration. For example, Dominion skimped on costly pollution-control equipment at one of its fossil-fuel power plants—a violation of federal clean air laws—and ultimately agreed on a billion-dollar settlement with the federal government over the infraction.

But the ability of regulators to keep Dominion in check is not absolute; indeed, the integrity of state officials has, in many instances, been compromised by the power of Dominion and other large energy companies. The company is even trumping its government regulators in the state of Virginia by pushing through legislation that the regulators themselves say is bad for consumers of electricity.

Almost two weeks later we found out that everything was not EXACTLY FINE. Twenty Five of the Twenty Seven 100 Ton Dry Cask storage units set on a concrete pad to cool for thousands of years had moved during the earthquake...something the industry and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission believed (wrongly) could never happen, though anti-nuclear activists had warned both industry and the supposed experts at the NRC of this very possibility for years...especially in regards to such dilapidated reactor sites as the Indian Point Reactors (owned by Entergy) that sit atop not one, but two earthquake faults.

When we have made claims that a major earthquake, or significant storm surge could see these poorly designed and engineered Dry Cask storage units, each filled with 20 times more radioactive wastes than Hiroshima, could be floating down the proverbial river, we were accused of being alarmists of the worst kind. When we have laid out an almost identical accident scenario as the one that took out the TEPCO reactors should New York take a direct hit by a major Hurricane, we again were chastised as alarmist, and yet we just missed that exact scenario when Hurricane Irene weakened before coming on shore this past Sunday.

We in the Anti-Nuclear movement have been portrayed as alarmists, our accident scenarios dismissed as all but mathematically impossible to occur. Yet, the NRC commission is now signaling the industry to expect a “generic letter” to all 104 nuclear power plants requesting a new evaluation of the manner in which earthquakes were analyzed and incorporated into their designs...first, lets not request new evaluations, lets demand them, and in an expedient fashion, as there is too much at stake, especially here in the New York area where millions of lives are being risked as the NRC plays Russian Roulette with the two poorly placed, poorly designed reactors known as Indian Point.

Let us as example go back to the original licensing of Indian Point...on a parallel track, but not yet approved, Earthquake criteria were being formulated and moving through the process of approval. Indian Point's license was approved prior to the official adoption of these rules, and thus they did not have to meet them...if they had, said reactors would not now be sitting on the edge of the Hudson River just 24 miles from Manhattan. Additionally, the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster has shown us that the industry's nuclear fallout modeling is completely off base and unrealistic. In just three days, radioactive fallout from the Fukushima Accident had reached Tokyo, some 180 miles from the epicenter of the disaster, which is almost four times the 50 mile fallout circle established for a significant incident here in America. All of this should be great cause for alarm as the NRC moves to approve a re-licensing of Indian Point's two functioning reactors.

Indian Point has some very serious problems that the NRC has been effectively ignoring for decades now. The three nuclear plants on the site have miles of underground pipes and conduits-most of these are encased in concrete are completely inaccessible to inspections, and though the NRC does not want you too know this, extremely vulnerable should and earthquake occur. Virtually all three of these aging plants have leaked massive amounts of radioactive water into the surrounding environment, though the NRC protects its licensee by falsely claiming said radiated materials have not contaminated the potable drinking waters of the state of NY.

Fact is, New York’s Indian Point plants have continuously leaked into what amounts to a radioactive lake under the plants, about 25 miles north of New York City. These radioactive contaminates from a 300,000 gallon reservoir that IP 3 sits atop are steadily seeping into the Hudson River. Yet, when citizens file 2.206 petitions on these and other violations at the plant, such as the leaking fuel transfer channel for IP 2, nothing is done, Entergy being allowed to continue operating, being allowed to flout the rules and regulations, simply requesting another waiver/exemption every time they cannot meet the rules as they are written.

Many here in the Hudson River Valley have been led to believe we are safe, even if there is a significant incident or accident at Indian Point...fact is, we have been mislead, and it is time for us as citizens, as affected stakeholder communities to weigh into the issue, time for us to insist that the license renewal application for these two reactors be denied so that proper decommissioning can begin.

Some Important Facts

1. The Price Anderson Act precludes all citizens in America from getting insurance to cover losses from a serious nuclear incident such as the one that occurred in Japan earlier this year. We are told to believe that our government will step in through FEMA and make us whole again. FEMA is broke, and estimates should an accident occur at Indian Point show a price tag in excess of $500 Billion dollars.

• The Price-Anderson Act bestows a twofold subsidy on the nuclear industry. First, the Act artificially limits the amount of primary insurance that nuclear operators must carry – an uncalculated indirect subsidy in terms of insurance premiums that they don’t have to pay. This distorts electricity markets by masking nuclear power’s unique safety and security risks, granting nuclear power an unfair and undesirable competitive advantage over safer energy alternatives. Second, Price-Anderson caps the liability of nuclear operators in the event of a serious accident or attack, leaving taxpayers on the hook for most of the damages. This makes capital investment in the nuclear industry more attractive to investors because their risk is minimized and fixed.
• Consequently, the Act is a dual-edge sword for the public that it purportedly protects. The legislation was intended first of all to bolster investor confidence, whereas victim compensation is secondary. Price-Anderson establishes only phantom insurance for the public, then provides a real bailout mechanism for the nuclear energy industry by reducing its need to pay for insurance, subsidizing the industry at the taxpayers' expense.

2. The nuclear industry's finacial hit, through a collective insurance pool, should a major terrorist attack or accident at a nuclear facility occur is only $10 Billion dollars...barely two percent of the monies it would cost to make New York whole again if there is an accident at Indian Point.

3. Indian Point owned by Entergy does not, and cannot meet the current Earthquake criteria established for plant safety...the NRC is now admitting that those criteria may not be adequate to protect human health and the environment.

4. One of the planes that flew into the the World Trade Centers flew right past Indian Point on its way into Manhattan on that fateful day almost ten years ago...how much more tragic would 9/11 have been if one of those terrorists had flown their plane into one of Indian Points twin reactors, or had crashed directly into a spent fuel pool?

5. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted Indian Point exemptions from conducting some tests that they cannot pass until after they are relicensed...tests that would make them in ineligible for a license renewal.

The time has come for all New Yorkers to demand the full shut down and decommissioning of Indian Point...we simply have to much at stake to do otherwise.

Should The NRC Close Indian Point Reactors Ahead of Hurricane Irene?

Two words...STORM SURGE.

If you are tracking Hurricane Irene, it could make landfall almost anywhere from South Carolina northward, with New York currently one of the potentials for landfall of this Category Three (perhaps a category four) Hurricane. There is a very good chance that New York could take a direct hit, and if we do, the storm surge has the potential to be catastrophic...it could be even worse if the power goes out to Indian Point, and their back up generators get flooded in a very similar flooding to that in Japan in the Fukushima disaster that has created at least three nuclear reactor meltdowns. A look at the NOAA website under the search term Storm Surge, you find the following quote:

Along the coast, storm surge is often the greatest threat to life and property from a hurricane.

Which begs the question...is an ounce of prevention worth a pound of cure? Right now, NOAA does not have storm surge maps for this storm, was told today that it is much too early to create those kinds of maps with any accuracy as they are not sure yet what track this storm is going to take as it takes its run up the East Coast. Would it make more sense for the NRC, our state government to order the SAFE SHUTDOWN and COOLING of Indian Points reactors until after this potentially catastrophic storm has passed? We look at Eliot Brenner's, NRC's Public Affairs Officer, own words spoken when trying to convince people that Earthquakes were not a serious issue for Indian Point (though it sits ATOP a fault line):

"For example, at nuclear plants along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts, the greatest water threat is hurricane storm surge, not a tsunami."

Look at yesterday's earthquake...the strongest earthquake in our area in the last one hundred years. Yesterday's earthquake took out two nuclear reactors at the North Anna Power Station, and Twelve other nuclear power plants in New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania and Maryland also declared unusual events Tuesday but did not shut down.

Hurricane Irene presents some potentially GREAT RISKS to the problem plagued Indian Point reactors owned by Entergy should New York take a direct hit by a Cat 3 or 4 Hurricane. The NRC's own staff have stated publicly that the storm surge from a Hurricane present the greatest risk to Indian Point. The storm surge holds the potential to flood the building housing the back up generators, the storm surge also holds the potential to CLOG UP the intakes that supply these two reactors with their 2.5 Billion gallons of daily water supply needed to cool the reactor core. So the question is posed, should these two reactors sitting along the edge of the Hudson River be shut down now as a precaution?

"BUCHANAN — To respond effectively to a Fukushima-like event, the Indian Point nuclear plant must fix several problems, including the potential buildup of explosive hydrogen gas and poorly placed firefighting and flood-protection equipment."

Some of Indian Points CRISIS SHORTCOMINGS INCLUDE:

• At Indian Point 2, hydrogen containment devices, which are supposed to be tested every other year, haven't been tested for five years.

• Fire protection equipment in locations that are not "seismically designed," or protected from a quake.

• Inspectors identified potential vulnerabilities associated with seismic events.

• At Indian Point 3, not enough firefighting equipment if severe events included both reactors simultaneously.

• In on-site availability of submersible pumps and sandbags needed at certain flood levels.

• Carbon-dioxide tanks used for firefighting are not seismically qualified.

Shouldn't we do a SAFE SHUT DOWN and cooling of the reactor cores now, rather than risk what could happen? Have we not learned our lesson from the TEPCO nuclear station disaster in Japan? Have we not learned that, contrary to NRC's false assurances, these reactors are not built to withstand all of Mother Natures onslaughts?

Did you Feel the Earth Move?

Californians take most earthquakes for granted, but New Yorkers don't expect to feel their buildings shaking. At about 1:50PM today, several Main Street, Mountaindale residents felt a tremor that was related to the 5.9 magnitude earthquake that hit Virginia. The quake was 4 miles deep at its epicenter. Tremors were felt as far north as Bath, ME, and as far south as Hampstead, NC, with several Canadian reports as well.

For those locals who felt it, it was a very strange sensation. At 51 Main Street, the building shook and creaked a bit, but all the art & furniture stayed put. Things were different in the Washington/Virginia area where there was structural damage reported. In some cases, buildings were evacuated as a precaution and Amtrak had railway service disruptions. There was also an interruption in cell phone service in the New York City area, where traders in the New York Stock Exchange could also feel the tremors. Of a more serious concern are the nuclear power plants on the East Coast, which were reportedly shut down and listed as in safe condition.

For those who do not know it, Indian Point's reactors sit on a earthquake fault...in fact, if the reactors were seeking a new license today, instead of a license renewal, said license could not be issued. Meanwhile, both the NRC and Entergy assure us the general public that the chances of a earthquake occurring on this fault are highly unlikely...sort of like the unlikely chance today that the people in Virginia would experience a 5.8 on the Richter Scale quake. Perhaps now we can get the NRC to explain to us why they refuse to consider earthquakes in the re-licensing of the Indian Point reactors. Guess we need to wait until a natural disaster similar to the one that took out the TEPCO reactors in Japan before our regulatory folks are willing to look at this very real danger.