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Twenty million people live within a 50 mile radius of Indian Point, and the plant is in an area of elevated [[seismic]] risk and
Twenty million people live within a 50 mile radius of Indian Point, and the plant is in an area of elevated [[seismic]] risk and
on the flight path of the airplanes hijacked by terrorists who crashed into the [[World Trade Center]] on September 11, 2001. The Indian Point power plant has a history of problematic performance and there is considerable controversy about the plant's future.<ref>[http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/permits_ej_operations_pdf/noiindianpoint.pdf New York State Notice of Intention to Intervene]</ref> However, the facility is designed with seismic considerations in mind - as demonstrated at the [[Kashiwazaki-Kariwa]] nuclear power plant in 2006, even seismic activity well in excess of design parameters will cause no damage to the nuclear reactors or containment vessels of a nuclear power station, with minimal, essentially negligible releases of radioactivity to the environment.
on the flight path of the airplanes hijacked by terrorists who crashed into the [[World Trade Center]] on September 11, 2001. The Indian Point power plant has a history of problematic performance and there is considerable controversy about the plant's future.<ref>[http://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/permits_ej_operations_pdf/noiindianpoint.pdf New York State Notice of Intention to Intervene]</ref> However, the facility is designed with seismic considerations in mind - as demonstrated at the [[Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant]] in 2006, even seismic activity well in excess of design parameters will cause no damage to the nuclear reactors or containment vessels of a nuclear power station, with minimal, essentially negligible releases of radioactivity to the environment. It has been demonstrated that a terrorist attack, involving an aircraft being crashed into a nuclear reactor [[containment vessel]], or other attack or disaster such as a tornado or bomb attack against the containment vessel, will not be capable of breaching the containment vessel. <ref>[http://www.world-nuclear.org/reference/pdf/epri.pdf Aircraft Crash Impact Analyses Demonstrate Nuclear Power Plant’s Structural Strength]</ref>


== Overview and history ==
== Overview and history ==

Revision as of 14:46, 10 December 2007

Entergy's Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC) seen from across the Hudson.

Template:Nuke-NRC1 Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC) is a three-unit nuclear power plant station located in Buchanan, New York just south of Peekskill. It sits on the east bank of the Hudson River, 24 miles north of New York City, New York. The plant, which includes two operating Westinghouse pressurized water reactors, is owned and operated by Entergy Nuclear Northeast, a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. Entergy also owns the intact decommissioned Indian Point Unit 1 reactor. Total employment at the site is 1500.[citation needed]

Twenty million people live within a 50 mile radius of Indian Point, and the plant is in an area of elevated seismic risk and on the flight path of the airplanes hijacked by terrorists who crashed into the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The Indian Point power plant has a history of problematic performance and there is considerable controversy about the plant's future.[1] However, the facility is designed with seismic considerations in mind - as demonstrated at the Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant in 2006, even seismic activity well in excess of design parameters will cause no damage to the nuclear reactors or containment vessels of a nuclear power station, with minimal, essentially negligible releases of radioactivity to the environment. It has been demonstrated that a terrorist attack, involving an aircraft being crashed into a nuclear reactor containment vessel, or other attack or disaster such as a tornado or bomb attack against the containment vessel, will not be capable of breaching the containment vessel. [2]

Overview and history

The two reactors were built in 1974 and 1976. The plants are protected by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, including a national guard base within a mile of the plant, as well as by specialized and highly trained private on-site security forces. Plant security across the country has been increased since 9/11. Nuclear plant security is tested by federal officials, including mock assault exercises overseen by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), to assess Indian Point's defenses in the event of an armed assault. In September of 2006, the Security Department successfully completed Force-on-Force exercises for the NRC.

A test of the plant's alert sirens was held on September 13, 2006, with 154 of 156 sirens operating properly. Of the two failures--both in Rockland County--one siren sounded but did not rotate, and the other experienced a transmitter failure. Entergy replaced the current sirens with a $10 million high-tech warning system, scheduled for early-2007 - however, it missed the tagret date and the NRC proposed a $130,000 fine.[3]

A fire occurred in a nonnuclear part of the facility, outside in the transformer yard on April 6, 2007. One of the two main transformers for Unit 3 experienced a failure. Transformer failures of this type are usually characterized by a low order explosion and a subsequent fire. There were no injuries and the plant's own fire brigade extinguished the fire.[4] There was a previous fire in 1971 that did between five and ten million dollars of damage to the Indian Point Two reactor. The fire was set in an auxiliary building (housing control panels, cables, and pumps) while Unit Two was fueled but not yet critical and Unit One was operating nearby.[5]

On May 2, 2007 the NRC announced that the "License Renewal Application for Indian Point Nuclear Plant [is] Available for Public Inspection". Entergy has formally begun the lengthy process of applying to have the operating licenses of each unit extended by 20 years.[6]

Technical data

Indian Point Energy Center capacity

Approx. 1,955 Megawatts (MWe) net generation with both units operating

Indian Point Unit 1 (IP1)

Indian Point Unit 2 (IP2)

File:IAEC Indian Point PWR.png
Reactor diagram for unit 2
  • Acquired from Consolidated Edison
  • Type: 4-Loop Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
  • Reactor & NSSS Manufacturer: Westinghouse
  • Architect/Engineer: United Engineers and Constructors (UE&C)
  • Commercial operation began August 1974
  • License expiration date: September 2013
  • Unit Status: Operational

Indian Point Unit 3 (IP3)

  • Acquired from New York Power Authority (NYPA)
  • Type: 4-Loop Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
  • Reactor & NSSS Manufacturer: Westinghouse
  • Architect/Engineer: United Engineers and Constructors (UE&C)
  • Commercial operation began August 1976
  • License expiration date: December 2015
  • Unit Status: Operational

Controversy

Interest in shutting down Indian Point dates back to 1979 following the Three Mile Island accident (a partial core meltdown with over 2000 personal injury suits filed to date). However, some industry groups have said that shutting Indian Point would put a severe strain on New York City's electricity supply. Entergy (the operator of the plant), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the NRC insist the plant is safe.[citation needed]

Activists claim that radioactive contamination from a major accident with containment breach at Indian Point might reach populated areas including New York City, northern New Jersey, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. The 1982 CRAC-II study by Sandia National Laboratories found that a core meltdown and radiological release at one of the two operating Indian Point reactors could cause 50,000 near-term deaths from acute radiation syndrome and 14,000 long-term deaths from cancer.[9] Since that study, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) have disavowed the results as being an "extremely conservative consequence analysis" and is currently pursuing a new, state-of-the-art assessment of possible severe accidents and their consequences.[citation needed]

Public health concerns about the plant have also been raised by activists, specifically in terms of radioactive contamination. On February 15, 2000, the Indian Point II power plant vented a small amount of radioactive steam when an aging steam generator ruptured. The NRC initially reported that no radioactive material was released, but later changed their report to say that there was a leak, but not of a sufficient amount to threaten public safety.[10][11]

New York metropolitan newspapers reported on September 11, that American Airlines Flight 11 flew almost exactly over the Indian Point Energy Center en route to and no more than eight minutes from the World Trade Center. Mohamed Atta (one of the 9/11 hijackers/plotters) had considered nuclear facilities for targeting in a terrorist attack.[12] Entergy says it is prepared for a terrorist attack, and demonstrated that a large airliner crash into the containment building would not cause reactor damage.[citation needed] Following 9/11 the NRC required operators of Nuclear facilities in the United States to examine the effects and provide planned responses to terrorist events.[13]

In 2003, Directors of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Michael D. Brown and Joe Allbaugh certified the plant for operation and approved the evacuation plan. FEMA recently re-approved the evacuation plan for Indian Point, although the environmental activist group Riverkeeper contends that local residents and first responders question its effectiveness. Riverkeeper has lobbied more than 400 politicians (including 11 members of Congress), 500 local businesses, and over 200 police officers, firefighters, bus drivers, school teachers, and hospital workers, to call for the plant's closure, criticizing, among other things, its allegedly unworkable emergency plan. On May 30th 2007, the Pilgrim Nuclear Generating Station in Plymouth, Mass., another plant owned and operated by the Entergy Corporation, accidentally faxed radiological advisories for the communities surrounding Indian Point in a test of its security systems. The reports were quickly dismissed due to lack of vital information, but Andrew Sutton, Westchester county's commissioner of emergency services expressed concern over the situation: "Let's face it, if it had a little more information on it and it had come at 3 a.m., these things can take on a life of their own." [14]

Some environmental activists feel the lack of greenhouse gases emitted during nuclear power generation outweighs the alleged security risks. On February 23, 2007, Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore wrote an opinion piece in the New York Post in favor of keeping Indian Point open, saying: "I strongly support renewal of the license for the Indian Point nuclear plants in Westchester, which provides 30 percent or so of the electricity used in the New York metro area."[15]

On November 7, 2006, John Hall was elected Congressman in the 19th District of New York State, which is the the district where the Indian Point nuclear power plant is located. Hall, formerly a musician, performed at the 1979 No Nukes concert in Battery Park where half a million people gathered in support of a shut down of Indian Point.[16]

On April 23, 2007, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the owner of the Indian Point nuclear plant $130,000 for failing to meet a deadline for a new emergency siren plan. The 150 sirens at the plant are meant to alert residents within 10 miles to a plant emergency.[17]

On Sept. 23, 2007, An antinuclear group filed legal papers with the NRC, Nuclear Regulatory Commission opposing the relicensing of the Indian Point 2 nuclear reactor in Westchester County. The anti-nuclear group Friends United for Sustainable Energy, or FUSE, based out of New York, contends that for decades, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and its predecessor, the Atomic Energy Commission, improperly held the Indian Point reactors, which are in Buchanan, N.Y., to less stringent design requirements than those the government applied to newer plants. [18]

On December 1, 2007 Westchester County Executive Andy Spano, New York Attorney General Cuomo, and New York Gov. Elliot Spitzer called a press conference which included New York State Assemblyman Richard Broadski, Congressman John Hall, Congresswoman Nita Lowey Advocacy and many other elected New York officials. Advocacy groups Clearwater and Riverkeeper were also included. The purpose of the press conference was to make clear the united opposition on all levels of government to the re licensing of the Indian Point nuclear power plants. The Department of Environmental Control and the Office of the Attorney General jointly filed 32 Contentions, or reasons, requesting a hearing on this matter as part of the process put forth by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. One section of the contentions detailed ways to replace the electricity generated at Indian Point. To view a copy of the petition visit: http://www.oag.state.ny.us or http://www.dec.ny.gov.


Media coverage

  • HBO aired a television dramatization surrounding the controversy called Indian Point: Imagining The Unimaginable. [1] It first aired on September 9th, 2004, and was directed by Rory Kennedy. Ms. Kennedy is the sister of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Mr. Kennedy is the legal consul for the anti-nuclear environmental advocacy group, Riverkeeper.
  • The New York Times published a story on September 24, 2007 reporting on the rigorous legal opposition Entergy faces as the company announces its intent to request a 20-year licensing extension for its aging Indian Point 2 reactor.[2]
  • Frontline created an episode entitled Nuclear Reaction with associated legal references. [3]

In literature

The book Night Siege, by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, details an infamous incident where UFOs flew over the plant and purports that a massive cover-up was done such as at Roswell in 1947. Many however, contend that there is no credible evidence of UFOs from extra-terrestrial locations.

References

  1. ^ New York State Notice of Intention to Intervene
  2. ^ Aircraft Crash Impact Analyses Demonstrate Nuclear Power Plant’s Structural Strength
  3. ^ NRC press release on sirens
  4. ^ "Fire Breaks Out At Indian Fire Nuclear Plant". CBS News. April 6, 2007.
  5. ^ Brittle Power, p. 145.
  6. ^ NRC press release on licensing
  7. ^ http://www.nucleartourist.com/us/nyc.htm accessed May 10, 2007
  8. ^ U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission http://www.nrc.gov/info-finder/decommissioning/power-reactor/indian-point-unit-1.html Accessed May 10, 2007
  9. ^ Edwin S. Lyman, PhD (September 2004). "Chernobyl on the Hudson?: The Health and Economic Impacts of a Terrorist Attack at the Indian Point Nuclear Plant". Union of Concerned Scientists.
  10. ^ Allen Lutins (January 23, 2006). "U.S. Nuclear Accidents". Retrieved December 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  11. ^ "NRC Information Notice 2000-09".
  12. ^ Paul Thompson; et al. (December 27, 2006). "Complete 911 Timeline". Cooperative Research. Retrieved December 29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Explicit use of et al. in: |author= (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help)
  13. ^ U.S. Approves Evacuation Plan For Indian Point Nuclear Plant|publisher=The New York Times|date=July 26, 2003|author=Randal C. Archibold & Matthew L. Wald}}
  14. ^ "Mass. power plant inadvertently sends alerts to Hudson Valley". The Journal News. May 31, 2007.
  15. ^ Patrick Moore (February 23, 2007). "Nuclear & Green: Indian Point An Enviro Plus". New York Post.
  16. ^ Rock the Reactors:Shut Down Indian Point in 2008
  17. ^ Buchanan: Nuclear Plant Owner Fined
  18. ^ Mathew L. Wald New York Times (September 23, 2007). "Indian Point Faces New Challenge From Opponents".

See also

Template:Geolinks-US-photo

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