Plan to restart Indian Point 2 opposed

["Jim Hardeman" <Jim_Hardeman@mail.dnr.state.ga.us>]

Colleagues -

The following article was posted in today's NY Journal News.

Jim Hardeman
Jim_Hardeman@dnr.state.ga.us 

========================

Plan to restart Indian Point 2 opposed 

By DAVID NOVICH 
The Journal News 

Publication date: 6/26/2000 


CORTLANDT --Angry residents and members of the state's congressional delegation told federal regulators yesterday that Indian Point 2 should not reopen until the outdated and unsafe steam generators are replaced with new equipment. 

The strong opposition, expressed at a public hearing by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was directed at a plan by Consolidated Edison Co. to restart the troubled nuclear power plant using four repaired generators before the end of the year. 

According to the proposal, Con Ed would begin replacing the steam generators by the end of the year. Residents in the area are concerned by this because it was a generator leak that caused the plant's first emergency alert Feb. 15. 

"They should trash that old machine," said Bobby Lawlor, 51, of Cortlandt Manor. "We can't wait until more things go, because next time it could be dangerous." 

Rep. Sue Kelly, R-Katonah, said the NRC and Con Ed had not told the public everything about the plant's safety, leading many residents to distrust the company and the federal officials. 

A Con Ed memo obtained last week by The Journal News said workers at the plant had to contend with dozens of equipment and organizational failures during the early hours of the Feb. 15 leak. Con Ed also was blamed by the NRC earlier this year for doing a sloppy job of inspecting the steam generator tubes in 1997. 

"This community will not accept anything short of full public disclosure of all the information related to the safety of the plant," Kelly said. "And we will not accept this plant being restarted without new steam generators." Rep. Benjamin Gilman, R-Greenville, said he would call for a congressional hearing into the safety of the facility with Rep. Dan Burton of Indiana, chair of the House Government Reform Committee, if the NRC allowed it to reopen without replacement of the steam generators and better emergency and safety procedures. 

"The proper maintenance of the Indian Point facilities is vital to the safety and welfare of millions of citizens," Gilman said. "It's about time that the NRC and Con Ed open their eyes and ears and listen to the concerns of the citizens of the Hudson Valley." 

U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer, Rep. Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, and local officials also called for the replacement of the generators. 

Many who attended yesterday's meeting said they wanted the plant shut down permanently. 

"The steam generator is a symptom of a greater problem," said Michelle Riddell, a New Paltz resident and co-president of Safe Legacy, a safe energy group. "That we have a Chernobyl on the Hudson. What technology has an evacuation plan for five counties?" 


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