[ RadSafe ] Irony at Its Best a.k.a. Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant

[John Jacobus]

That the NYT supports the actions of Gov. Eliot
Spitzer and Attorney General Andrew Cuomo?

--- Steven Dapra <sjd at swcp.com> wrote:

> Dec. 5
> 
>          May I faint!  The good gray New York Times
> has finally said 
> something that makes sense!  Shall we stop the
> presses?
> 
> Steven Dapra
> 
> 
> At 01:11 PM 12/5/07 -0800, John Jacobus wrote:
> >Editorial from today's New Your Times
> >
> >See the last paragraph
> >
> >December 5, 2007
> >Editorial
> >
> >Taking Aim at Indian Point
> >
> >In an extraordinary move, Gov. Eliot Spitzer and
> >Attorney General Andrew Cuomo have placed
> themselves
> >at the head of the group of federal, state and
> local
> >officials who believe that the Indian Point nuclear
> >power plant is unsafe and poorly run and should be
> >closed. They should be given a chance to make their
> >case.
> >
> >The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which must
> decide
> >in the next year or two whether to allow Indian
> Point
> >to remain open after its two reactor licenses
> expire
> >in 2013 and 2015, should grant New York’s request
> to
> >intervene in the relicensing process. It should
> >provide a full airing of the issues raised by Mr.
> >Spitzer and Mr. Cuomo, which focus mostly on Indian
> >Point’s vulnerability to terrorist attack, its
> record
> >of leaks, accidents and environmental damage and
> its
> >status as the nuclear plant with more neighbors
> than
> >any other in the country — 20 million people within
> 50
> >miles, in a region where mass evacuations might be
> all
> >but impossible.
> >
> >This would require changing the rules of such
> >hearings, which focus on the soundness of the plant
> >and the ability of the utility to run it. By asking
> >for a hearing, Mr. Spitzer and Mr. Cuomo have
> joined
> >local politicians and activists in arguing that the
> >9/11 attacks changed things and that the commission
> >has not adequately considered the risks and
> >consequences of terrorism as it reviews relicensing
> >applications for the plants it oversees.
> >
> >We, too, believe that domestic security is of
> utmost
> >urgency. The intense scrutiny that New York wants
> to
> >apply to Indian Point — about 30 miles up the
> Hudson
> >River from Manhattan — should apply to all nuclear
> >plants in the country, including those whose
> >spent-fuel pools are above ground and thus more
> >vulnerable than Indian Point’s.
> >
> >This should not be misconstrued as an attack on
> >nuclear power, which we strongly believe has a
> place
> >in the nation’s energy mix. Indeed, our support for
> >New York’s position comes with a major caveat: The
> >state has an obligation to explain what it would do
> >about the 2,000 megawatts of electricity that would
> be
> >lost if the plant closed. Its solution must not
> >compromise New York’s commitment to reducing
> >greenhouse gases in the region. Replacing one
> >potential menace with another — like an
> >environmentally dirtier and costly natural-gas
> plant —
> >would be a bad outcome.
> 
> [edit]
> 
> 
> 


+++++++++++++++++++
"Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak, Courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen." -- Sir Winston Churchill

-- John
John Jacobus, MS
Certified Health Physicist
e-mail:  crispy_bird at yahoo.com


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