- To: undisclosed-recipients:;
- Subject: Residents Angry After Nuke Release
- From: AOLNews@aol.com
- Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 17:29:16 EST
- Full-name: AOL News
Residents Angry After Nuke Release
.c The Associated Press
By JIM FITZGERALD
BUCHANAN, N.Y. (AP) - A generator leak at a Hudson River nuclear power plant resulted in a brief release of radioactive steam, and some people living in the plant's shadow said Wednesday that they should have been alerted to the accident.
``Where were the sirens?'' asked David Coviello, 55, who lives two doors from the plant gate. ``I have a 7-year-old son, an 18-year-old daughter.''
Officials said the steam was barely radioactive, and its escape Tuesday night from the Indian Point 2 nuclear reactor was ``momentary and minuscule,'' so there was no health danger and no need to warn nearby residents.
Still, resident Salvatore Simone said officials should notify people of any accident, regardless of its seriousness.
``I should decide for myself,'' he said. ``I might have gotten into the car with my family and gotten away.''
The sirens were kept silent because officials in four counties agreed that there was no reason to set them off, said deputy county executive, Jay Hashmall.
Guidelines from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ``call for the sounding of sirens only when some protective action is needed,'' such as evacuations or stay-inside orders, Hashmall said.
Consolidated Edison Co., which owns and operates the plant, declared an alert, a first for the plant, which is on the Hudson River about 35 miles north of New York City. About 15.5 million people live within a 50-mile radius. An alert is one of four categories of nuclear events identified by the NRC. In order from least serious to most serious they are: unusual event, alert, site area emergency and general emergency.
The only general emergency at a U.S. nuclear plant was the March 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania.
Mindy Landau of the NRC said there are an average of three or four alerts a year among the nation's 103 operating reactors.
Con Ed Vice President Steve Quinn said the accident - the most serious in the 26-year history of the plant - was caused by a leak in a tube carrying hot, slightly radioactive water through a pool of cooler water, which is thereby turned into steam. The steam is used to turn a turbine, which generates electricity. The plant produces about a seventh of the power Con Ed supplies to its 3 million customers.
Because the hot water was under high pressure, it turned into steam as it escaped from the tube. It was vented through the building's roof, but a radiation detector in the vent sounded an alarm and automatically closed the vent, so the slightly radioactive steam escaped into the air for only a few seconds, Quinn said.
Radiation measurements taken around the plant found nothing above normal background radiation, Quinn said, adding: ``There is no danger to the health and welfare of the general public.''
Some villagers in Buchanan took that with a grain of salt.
``I'm definitely afraid,'' said Regina Ervin, just four doors from the plant entrance. ``I'm afraid to brush my teeth. I'm afraid to make the coffee.''
Others, however, said they have learned to live with the plant.
``I guess I trust that they'll tell us if there's a problem,'' said David Allen, a magazine writer.
Said George Kiljarian, a retired attorney: ``I'm a fatalist. I made it through World War II. ... If they've never had a problem in 26 years I guess that's all right.''
AP-NY-02-16-00 1728EST
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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