Feds give Indian Point top grade
Greg Clary
The Journal News
May 11, 2005

PEEKSKILL - Federal regulators yesterday gave Indian Point a top grade for 2004, but then it got barely passing marks from residents opposed to the nuclear plants and a possible 20-year renewal of their operating licenses.

At a meeting of about 200 people who turned out to hear how the Nuclear Regulatory Commission rated Entergy Nuclear Northeast's plants in nearby Buchanan, the company received its second consecutive "green" designation - the top safety mark handed out in the agency's annual assessments. Because of the rating, the site will require less intense oversight than it has in previous years.

Regulators remain concerned about 10 inspection findings that were of "very low safety significance," but showed a "common theme of untimely or ineffective corrective actions."

Better oversight of trouble-shooting like that leading to an automatic shutdown of Indian Point 3 during the weekend is also something that is required, NRC officials said.

"While we have made considerable progress at Indian Point, as has been acknowledged in your assessments for 2004, I recognize we still have a number of challenges before us in order to meet the high standards that Entergy demands of its facilities," said Chris Schwarz, an Entergy vice president who was one of four company officials to meet with the NRC last night.

Little more than a year ago, the NRC gave both Indian Point nuclear power plants their first rating among the best operated in the country, noting improvements in plant equipment and operations. Regulators' concerns were similar last year.

But last night before the end of the first part of the meeting - a substantive discussion of the assessment between Entergy and the NRC - opponents expressed their opinions, hissing and shouting out questions at times.

Sam Collins, the top NRC official at the meeting, quickly reminded the audience members that they were there to observe only and that the two sides would continue their work in a public forum only as long as it was practical.

Less than an hour later, after Entergy officials had thanked the NRC for the rating and vowed to implement better trouble-shooting procedures and cut the number of unfinished maintenance tasks by more than half this year, residents got a chance to speak for the record.

Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano led off, asking the NRC to rewrite its relicensing criteria to include population and the effectiveness of evacuation plans in the event of an emergency.

Relicensing currently doesn't require those analyses, Spano said.

"If the NRC will not close it before the end of its current licenses, 2013 and 2015, the NRC must not grant renewal," he said, referring to the expiration of licenses for Indian Point 2 and 3, respectively.

NRC officials earlier had reminded the audience that Entergy had not yet sought the relicensing of either of the two plants.

Spano said that if the agency were reviewing a new plant at the site, it would not approve it because of the dense population and proximity of the Hudson River.

Earlier in the day, Spano's opponent in the race for Westchester County executive, Republican Legislator Rob Astorino of Mount Pleasant, called on Spano to release a study on the feasibility of shutting down the nuclear power plants.

Many in the crowd cheered Spano's remarks, but one of the most vocal of the opponents was Mark Jacobs, representing the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition.

With people holding plastic yellow ducks of varying sizes around him, he told NRC officials the area's residents were "sitting ducks."

"We are a target for an accident, we're a target for a terrorist attack," he said. "We're sitting ducks because we have a nuclear regulatory agency which is not doing a good enough job to protect the public."

Little more than four years ago, Indian Point 2 got the country's first red designation for a nuclear plant, the worst safety rating.

Entergy has poured more than a half-billion dollars into the site to get it to its current status. Company officials vowed last night the investment would continue.

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