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Cuomo Calls Indian Point a "Catastrophe" in Waiting
By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 4, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Dec 4, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced that NY State filed papers with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission explaining why the license for the Indian Point nuclear power plant should not be renewed. In fact, Cuomo called the plant a "catastrophe waiting to happen" and said, "I believe Indian Point should be closed and it should be closed now."
Here are some of the reasons Cuomo and Governor Spitzer gave (more here - the petition submitted to the NRC was 313 pages):
- Proximity to the most densely populated area in the United States: Approximately 20 million people – about 6 percent of the nation’s population – live or work within fifty miles of Indian Point.
- Susceptibility to a terrorist attack and other security risks: The 9/11 Commission reported that al-Qaeda terrorists had specifically contemplated attacking nuclear power plants with aircraft, and two of the planes hijacked on September 11, 2001 flew near or over Indian Point. The NRC refuses to require Entergy to safeguard Indian Point against terrorist attacks from the air.
- Lack of acceptable emergency warning system or evacuation plan: 2006 marked the fourth straight year that Westchester, Rockland, and Orange Counties refused to certify county-based evacuation plans prepared by Entergy, in large part because safe evacuation of the area has been found to be highly unlikely, if not impossible.
The plant, previously owned by NY State, is now owned by Entergy Nuclear. An Entergy spokesman said that hundreds of millions have been put into upgrading the plant, "The plant equipment can perform according to its design,” Mr. Steets said. “That is what we have to demonstrate to the N.R.C.”
The Close Indian Point website points to incidents of unplanned outages in 2003 and radioactive water leaking in 2005. Riverkeeper has more information about efforts to stop the power plant's license renewal.
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9/11
andrew cuomo
attorney general
Attorney General Andrew CUomo
design
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Governor Spitzer
indian point
indianpoint
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nuclear regulatory commission
nuclearpower
ny state
Orange Counties
people
radioactive
september 11
shutdown
spitzer
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united states
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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