Home
Energy Net's Library tagged → View Popular
Thyroid cancer rates are alarming | LoHud.com | The Journal News
New research reveals that thyroid cancer rates near the Indian Point nuclear power plant are among the highest in the nation. Government statistics show that, compared to the U.S., thyroid cancer rates are 106 percent higher in Rockland County; 102 percent higher in Putnam County; 87 percent higher in Orange County; and 42 percent higher in Westchester County.
These figures are alarming. Unfortunately, Westchester County Health Commissioner Joshua Lipsman maliciously attacks this research, done by the Radiation and Public Health Project. RPHP, which I direct, comprises professional scientists. Our research is factual, while he has no proof to support his statements. My colleagues and I have published 25 papers on radiation health risk in scientific journals, including the esteemed Lancet and British Medical Journal. All papers were peer-reviewed by expert scientists who found them to meet high professional standards. Lipsman never published a single journal article on radiation health.
Evacuation plan is still unworkable | LoHud.com | The Journal News
Congratulations to Rob Astorino, who won the county leadership position by a large margin. The new county executive has been a strong supporter of Indian Point, and in his unsuccessful bid for the office in 2005, he tried to convince residents that the Kensico Dam was a larger threat than Indian Point if terrorists attacked. That argument did not play well and Mr. Astorino lost.
While these are different times, one thing is certain. The evacuation plan for Indian Point will not work if it is needed, and has unfixable shortcomings. Those were the findings of the 2003 Witt Report, and then-Gov. George Pataki publicly endorsed the report’s findings. That is why since then, neither Westchester County nor the State of New York have certified the evacuation plan as workable; and that is also why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has been suggesting that "sheltering in place" rather than trying to evacuate is advised.
Report: Link Found Between Cancer and Residents' Proximity From Indian Point - WPIX
Residents living in counties in close proximity to the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Westchester have the highest cases for thyroid cancer, a startling new report revealed Monday.
According to the article published in the International Journal of Health Services, the rate of residents in the area diagnosed with the disease is the highest in New York State and among the highest in the United States.
The 2001-2005 rate for the four counties surrounding the plant - Orange, Putnam, Rockland and Westchester - was 66% above the U.S. Average, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The rates of local residents with thyroid cancer have significantly increased since the late 1970s, when the two Indian point reactors were installed, the report revealed.
NRC checks unplanned shutdown at Indian Point 2 | LoHud.com | The Journal News
Federal investigators are examining what caused an electrical fault that shut down a nuclear power reactor at Indian Point 2 Monday night.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said the plant went to "hot shutdown" at 10:42 p.m. Monday, which means the reactor coolant system remains heated and pressurized, allowing the plant to be returned to service quickly.
"There's no danger posed to the public or the workers due to the shutdown," Sheehan said Tuesday. "The operators followed the appropriate procedures and shut it down, but there's still work to be done as far as what caused the shutdown and the complications that occurred."
NRC investigators visited the site late Monday night.
Committee recommends license renewal for Indian Point | LoHud.com | The Journal News
A team of independent experts who advise the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on safety are recommending that Indian Point be given 20 more years to operate.
Advertisement
"The application for renewal of the operating licenses for (Indian Point 2) and (Indian Point 3) should be approved," the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards wrote to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in a Sept. 23 letter, obtained by The Journal News.
The committee advises the NRC as part of the license extension review.
Without extensions, IP2 and IP3 would have to shut down permanently on Sept. 28, 2013, and Dec. 12, 2015, respectively, if their licenses are not renewed by the NRC. Indian Point 1 is no longer a working reactor.
Panel tosses NRC’s Indian Pt. waiver case | LoHud.com | The Journal News
A federal appeals court has dismissed an Indian Point case arguing that regulators improperly allowed the nuclear plant's owners to loosen a fire safety equipment standard at the Buchanan site.
Advertisement
"This case tests the limits of our jurisdiction ... to review orders of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission," Judge John Walker Jr. of the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals wrote in the 20-page decision.
"Petitioners challenge only that exemption in this appeal," Walker wrote. "Because we lack jurisdiction ... we must dismiss the petition."
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, D-Greenburgh, brought the case and said yesterday that he would decide his next move soon.
NRC - NRC Issues Final Safety Evaluation Report for Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant License Renewal
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has issued its final safety evaluation report (SER) for the proposed renewal of the operating licenses for Indian Point Nuclear Generating Unit numbers 2 and 3, and concluded that there are no open items that would preclude license renewal for an additional 20 years of operation.
The report documents the results of the NRC staff’s review of the license renewal application and site audits of the plant’s aging management programs to address the safety of plant operations during the period of extended operation. It represents the culmination of NRC’s comprehensive review of the application and inspection of the plant to verify license renewal implementation is consistent with the application. Overall, the results show that the applicant has identified actions that have been or will be taken to manage the effects of aging in the appropriate systems, structures and components of the plant and that their functions will be maintained during the period of extended operation.
WNYC - Nuclear Plant Clears One Hurdle, Groups Say Not Enough
Indian Point nuclear plant has passed a major test. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued its final safety report today. It found owner Entergy can safely manage Indian Point 2 and 3 as they age over the 20-year period that new licenses would cover. But environmental advocates disagree. Deborah Brancato is with Riverkeeper.
BRANCATO: We're not surprised at all by the NRC staff's findings. They have consistently sided with Entergy throughout the proceedings, which is why interveners like Riverkeeper and the state of New York will continue to raise relevant concerns and make sure the agency does a thorough review.
A separate NRC examination of environmental issues is still underway for Indian Point. And several objections to the relicensing -- including some from New York State -- remain to be heard.
Nuclear plant seeks OK to move uranium | lohud.com | The Journal News
Indian Point officials want to shuffle some of their used uranium fuels rods between nuclear reactors to create storage space, but federal regulators say they'll need to see a lot more details before they'll approve such a plan.
Advertisement
"This has not been done with any frequency in the United States," NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said. "So a lot of questions need to be answered. It is unusual and that's why it is going to take a great deal of study."
A meeting is set at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's Maryland headquarters today to go over details of the proposal, which hasn't officially been submitted, Sheehan said.
Indian Point technically would be seeking a license amendment, which can take two years to complete and could involve public hearings, but the plant's owner, Entergy Nuclear, wants a fast-track version that would allow the move to be completed before a refueling outage in early 2011.
Indian Point barriers to be subject of Federal appeals court ruling
A matter of 24 minutes could affect the lives of 20 million people within 30 miles of the Indian Point Nuclear Plant.
That's the core of an argument awaiting a ruling from a federal appeals court in a case against the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for allowing lower-quality fire barriers at the Westchester County plant 24 miles outside of the city.
The case also marks the first time the NRC is challenged to grant so-called exemptions that affect public safety without alerting the public.
The court case comes on the heels of an NRC public meeting Thursday night on safety at Indian Point.
NRC: NRC to Discuss Annual Assessment for Indian Point Nuclear Plant at Public Meeting Set for May 21 in Tarrytown, N.Y.
The results of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s annual safety performance assessment for the Indian Point nuclear power plant will be the subject of a public meeting on Thursday, May 21.
The meeting will begin at 6:30 p.m. at the Doubletree Hotel, at 455 South Broadway in Tarrytown, N.Y. (Directions are available at: http://doubletree1.hilton.com/en_US/dt/hotel/TERHIDT-Doubletree-Hotel-Tarrytown-New-York/directions.do.) Prior to the conclusion of the meeting, NRC staff will be available to answer questions from the public on the plant’s performance, as well as the agency’s oversight of the facility. In addition, the NRC will conduct an informational open house from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the same location that will allow members of the public to ask questions of agency staff on a one-on-one basis.
Indian Point, which is located in Buchanan (Westchester County), N.Y., is the site of two operating pressurized-water reactors. Entergy Nuclear Operations, Inc., owns and runs the facility.
Overall, the Indian Point plant operated safely during 2008. At the conclusion of last year, as assessed by the NRC Reactor Oversight Process, there were no performance indicators for the plant that were other than “green” and no inspection findings that were “greater than green.” During 2009, Indian Point will receive the very detailed inspection regime used by the NRC, as well as enhanced oversight in the area of groundwater contamination. In 2008, the NRC devoted approximately 16,700 hours of inspection to Indian Point, including seven major team inspections.
Congressmen voice nuke plant concerns | lohud.com | The Journal News
A cooling-water leak at Indian Point in February has prompted two congressmen to question the adequacy of pipe inspections at the nation's 104 nuclear plants and to call for revamping leak-detection programs.
"We need to make sure these critical safety systems are inspected before it's too late," said Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., who leads the House Energy and Environment Subcommittee.
Advertisement
Markey and John Hall, D-Dover Plains, wrote a letter Thursday to Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Dale Klein, citing the Feb. 16 leak and questioning whether the leak "may demonstrate a systemic failure" of Indian Point and the NRC to guarantee the public's safety.
Plant workers discovered the 18-gallon-a-minute leak of radioactive water from the non-nuclear side of Indian Point 2 after it pooled near a manhole cover.
US Supreme Court rules on Indian Point cost-benefit analysis
Entergy Northeast, the company that owns and operates the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan, may consider cost-benefit analysis with reviewing technology at the plant.
The issue at hand was environmentalist organizations’ call for the plant to convert to a closed-cycle cooling system, which they maintain would draw far fewer fish into the system and reduce the fish kill by over 95 percent.
The Riverkeeper group fought for the closed cooling system. Hudson Riverkeeper and organization President Alex Matthiessen said they are pleased that the court “agreed that EPA is not required to use cost-benefit analysis and left it up to EPA on remand to decide to what extent, if any, cost benefit analysis should be used in regulating cooling water intake structures.”
Court sides with power plants over fish - NewsFlash - SiLive.com
The Supreme Court ruled Wednesday that the government can weigh costs against benefits in deciding whether to order power plants to undertake upgrades that would protect fish.
The court's 6-3 decision is a defeat for environmentalists who had urged the justices to uphold a favorable federal appeals court ruling. That ruling could have required an estimated 554 power plants to install technology that relies on recycled water to cool machinery.
Mid Hudson News: Riverkeeper challenges NRC’s findings on the environmental impacts of Indian Point
BUCHANAN – Riverkeeper Wednesday filed written comments with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, challenging its assessment and conclusion that environmental impacts caused by Indian Point’s operation are not severe enough to prevent relicensing of the plant for 20 more years. The commission’s conclusion appeared in its December 2008 draft environmental analysis.
Riverkeeper’s comments noted the wide range of “severe impacts” caused by the aging nuclear plant, but focused on “the slaughter of Hudson River fish populations caused by Indian Point’s cooling water intakes and the NRC’s refusal to consider the risk of storing thousands of tons of nuclear waste at the plant indefinitely, without any environmental review.”
U.S. Reps demand investigation at Indian Point - The Times Herald Record
Four U.S. Representatives from New York are requesting a federal investigation at the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan.
Democratic colleagues John Hall, Maurice Hinchey, Nita Lowey and Eliot Engel called on the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission – the industry’s oversight body – to scrutinize a recent water leak that contained radioactive material at the plant.
The problem was discovered Feb. 16 when the facility’s staff detected a leak in an underground pipe connected to the reactor’s secondary cooling system. The escaping water contained small amounts of tritium, a radioactive isotope.
NRC: NY nuke plant must be checked for bad pipes -- Newsday.com
Federal regulators say the owners of a nuclear plant in the New York City suburbs will have to check more underground pipes for corrosion.
Last weekend, workers at Indian Point 2 in Buchanan were able to repair a pipe that was leaking slightly radioactive water from 8 feet underground.
Neil Sheehan of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says Entergy Northeast will have to do a study to see if corrosion is a problem at other pipes beneath the surface.
Entergy owns the plant and its twin, Indian Point 3.
Closing Indian Point a public-health issue | The Journal News
Greg Clary rightly asserts that "it's time for the anti-nuclear people to put their resources into figuring out real alternatives to nuclear power." ("Getting to the truth on Indian Point," Friday Earth Watch column). Yes, merely pointing out the problem is not enough. We should proceed with a plan of safe alternative energy, conservation, and more efficient use of electricity with no further delay.
But waiting for the solution means more unneeded suffering. My presentation of new data on thyroid cancer, obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (http://statecancerprofiles.cancer.gov/) at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission hearing last week in Cortlandt Manor is just the latest in a series of findings that cancer rates near Indian Point are unusually high. Thyroid cancer rates in Orange, Putnam, Rockland, and Westchester counties are among the highest in the U.S., according to the CDC.
Mid Hudson News: Engel tells NRC chief that Indian Point license should not be renewed
Congressman Eliot Engel urged the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to deny Indian Point’s application for relicensing, saying the reactors at the Buchanan plant continue to have too many serious issues to ignore.
Engel met with Dale Klein, commissioner of the NRC, in his Washington office telling him, “Indian Point would never be built today at its present location because of its proximity to the millions of people in the New York metropolitan area. It is degrading the Hudson River by using its water, some two billion gallons daily, to cool the plant, and by the radioactive leakages that may have already reached the river.”
Engel also told Klein the site is “a very tempting target for terrorist” and there are “too many other serious issues about the dangers of Indian Point’s nuclear reactors to ignore.”
NRC - NRC Staff to Seek Comments on Draft Environmental Report for Indian Point License Renewal Application at Feb. 12th Meetings
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff will solicit public comments at two meetings on Thursday, Feb. 12, regarding its preliminary conclusion that environmental impacts would not preclude a 20-year extension of the operating license for the Indian Point nuclear power plant.
A draft environmental impact statement on the proposed license renewal contains the information. The report, which was issued in December, will be discussed first at a meeting to be held at 1:30 p.m. on Feb. 12 at the Colonial Terrace event facility, 119 Oregon Road in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y. A second session will get under way at 7 p.m. on the same day at the same location.
Selected Tags
Related Tags
Sponsored Links
Groups interested in indianpt
Highlighter, Sticky notes, Tagging, Groups and Network: integrated suite dramatically boosting research productivity. Learn more »
Join Diigo