Riverkeeper Response to New York AG Schneiderman on Indian Point
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Tina Posterli (516) 526-9371
Ossining, NY – March 18, 2011 – Riverkeeper supports the Attorney General’s call for an immediate assessment of “all public health and safety risks that earthquakes pose to this facility” before any decision is made by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission whether to renew Indian Point’s licenses. We commend the Attorney General’s office for taking the lead raising the issue of earthquake risk at Indian Point with the NRC from the outset of the relicensing proceeding in 2007. The AG’s concerns were further supported by the 2008 Columbia University/Lamont Doherty seismologists’ study and new information from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), both of which described increased seismic activity and the discovery of a previously unknown fault next to Indian Point.
The NRC’s repeated refusal to consider this critical information in its relicensing review for Indian Point is outrageous, and reinforces Riverkeeper’s belief that the NRC is determined to prevent a comprehensive review of safety risks in this process.
Riverkeeper strongly supports the AG’s request that a “full, fair” assessment of this risk be integrated into the relicensing review process by the NRC, as well as the additional actions outlined by the AG to address this issue in both the short and long term. The assessment of public health and safety risks recommended by AG Schneiderman must be an objective, comprehensive, transparent process that includes independent technical experts that have no ties to the NRC or Entergy.
While Riverkeeper supports the Attorney General’s position, we are committed to the immediate shutdown of Indian Point 2 and 3 in order to fully protect public health and safety, until the completion of an independent risk assessment which shows that Indian Point can continue to operate safely. Without that assurance, the reactors must be permanently shut down and decommissioned as soon as possible.
Given the fact that the NRC has estimated the likelihood of an earthquake leading to core damage at Indian Point 3 to be the highest of any nuclear plant in the country, and the fact that the evacuation plan for Indian Point will not protect the public in an actual emergency, this is simply common sense.
