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Entergy Seeks 20-year License Renewal For Indian Point Energy Center
Media Coverage
- Why N.Y. Needs Indian Point (The New York Post)
- Rudy: Give Indian Pt. Its 'Fission' License (The New York Post)
- Greenpeace Co-founder joins Giuliani in supporting Indian Point (Mid Hudson News)
- Entergy seeks Indian Point license renewal (Crains)
- Entergy's press conference about Indian Point delivers a "safe, secure, vital" message - plus "survival bags." (The Journal News)
- Owner applies for renewal to license Indian Point (AP, Newsday)
- Indian Point will request 20 more years on its license (Times Herald-Record)
- Indian Point owner seeks license renewal (The Journal News)
- Entergy Nuclear reapplies for Indian Point license (Albany Business Review)
- NY Smog Leads Greenpeace Co-Founder to Support Relicensing Nuke (Power Market Today)
- Metro Briefing New York: Buchanan: License Renewal Sought For Indian Point (The New York Times)
- UPDATE 1-Entergy seeks to renew N.Y. Indian Pt licenses (Reuters)
- Entergy To Seek 20-Year License Renewal For Indian Point (Dow Jones Energy Service)
WHY N.Y. NEEDS INDIAN POINT (The New York Post)
Matthew C. Cordaro
December 5, 2006
THE debate about New York's energy future just got more interesting.
Entergy, the owner of the Indian Point Energy Center in upper Westchester County, recently announced its intent to seek renewal of its license to operate two of the state's six nuclear-power plants.
This provides an excellent chance for policymakers and business and political leaders to examine the best route for building New York's economy, improving our environment and our quality of life in the future.
New York faces a major challenge: Our demand for electric power rises every year. But, with some aging plants scheduled to go offline, our power-generating capacity will face a deficit in the next few years. That's the consensus view of independent experts, including the New York Independent System Operator, which manages the power grid throughout the state.
How important is reliable supply and distribution of electricity? Just ask small business owners and residents in northwest Queens left in the dark by last year's days-long blackout.
In other words, it's vital that New York expand its power supply - with clean, affordable and reliable electricity - in the immediate future. Yet some want to shrink the supply - as some anti-nuclear activists would have us do by denying license renewal for Indian Point.
The loss of Indian Point's power would be a devastating blow to New York, a detriment to our economic vitality and growth. And, because alternate power sources are less clean, it would harm air quality across the region, too.
So it's worth reviewing the benefits that Indian Point provides:
* Indian Point's 2,000 megawatts (MW) supply 30 percent of New York City and the surrounding region's electricity on a typical day, including much of the energy required by the mass-transit system run by Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
* The plant has been a powerful economic engine, responsible for economic activity (including jobs, taxes, economic output and labor income, purchases, contributions to the local community, etc.) totaling $763.3 million a year for Westchester and surrounding counties.
* Since nuclear power provides electricity without creating air pollution, Indian Point mitigates the release of 14 million tons a year of harmful emissions that would come from other sources of power, such as coal.
* Nuclear plants are "base-load" sources of power: They run 24/7, reinforcing the reliability of the state's power supply. This is particularly vital for commercial and industrial users: Reliable power is a must if they're to plan on expanding business in New York.
* Entergy has invested over $1 billion in upgrades to the plants since the purchases in 2000 and 2001.
Anti-nuclear activists will tell you that the power from Indian Point can be easily replaced with renewable sources of energy like solar, hydro and bio-fuels. While "renewables" are valuable, the "easily replaceable" claim is highly deceptive - and a decision based on it could bring catastrophe.
Patrick Moore - a scientist as well as a co-founder and former leader of Greenpeace - puts it this way: "Nuclear energy is the only non- greenhouse-gas-emitting power source capable of effectively replacing fossil fuels and satisfying growing demand.
"Hydroelectric is largely built to capacity. Other key renewables, such as wind and solar, will play a growing role. But renewables are unreliable and intermittent, and simply can't provide base-load electricity."
That's why Moore supports Indian Point license renewal.
In a report released in June 2006, an independent panel of experts at the National Academy of Sciences made clear that there are no easy replacements for Indian Point. One alternative, for example, would be to construct four to five new natural-gas plants in the region. Which downstate communities are ready to host these new plants?
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which rules on nuclear-plant license renewals, has previously rated both Indian Point plants as among the best-run in the country, and has commended Entergy for improvements in plant equipment and operations.
License renewal is a multi-year process requiring thorough research, analysis and public input. The public, as well as anti-nuclear activists, will have ample opportunity for impact on Indian Point's renewal.
That process should prompt New York leaders to consider our energy future, and the chance to preserve our current power supply and pursue new opportunities to expand it so our electricity is affordable and reliable.
Matthew C. Cordaro is the former president of the Midwest Independent System Operator, a member of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance and director of the Center for Management Analysis at Long Island University.
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RUDY: GIVE INDIAN PT. ITS 'FISSION' LICENSE (The New York Post)
By HASANI GITTENS
November 23, 2006
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani went nuclear yesterday - endorsing a plan to keep the reactors at Westchester's Indian Point power plant humming, while also throwing his support behind efforts to expand the use of atomic energy across the country.
Giuliani, making his first public appearance in New York state since setting up an exploratory committee for a possible presidential run, was in Yonkers to boost one of his consulting firm's clients, the owners of the controversial Indian Point nuke plant.
"Our view is that Indian Point is as safe as a facility can be, and a pretty good model, if not an excellent model, for not only other nuclear power plants but other industries that in many ways are just as sensitive [to security threats]," Giuliani boasted of the plant.
Giuliani Partners was hired by Entergy Nuclear Northeast to help its bid to relicense the plant, where federal approvals extend only through 2013. At a press conference yesterday, Giuliani insisted the reactors make up "one of the safest plants" in the country.
"They are going to be found - as they have in the past - not only to meet the minimum standards, but the highest standards," said Giuliani, who was hired to evaluate safety and security issues at the power plant.
But Giuliani, considered along with Sen. John McCain as the top GOP presidential contenders in 2008, was quick to take a national view of nuclear power.
"The United States hasn't had a new nuclear facility in 25 years. This is a necessary part of our being energy independent," Giuliani said, pointing to France, Finland, India and China, which are turning more and more to nuclear energy.
When asked if he thought this country should rely less on fossil fuels like oil and coal and more on nuclear power, he joked, "I will only answer that question with theme music" - referring to "Hail to the Chief."
His diplomatic response - sans music - was, "I think that is one of the things America has to look into."
But many Westchester residents have been clamoring to shut the plant, just 35 miles north of Midtown Manhattan on the Hudson River.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.), a possible presidential challenger herself, said yesterday: "Everything should be on the table during the relicensing process, and the public's concerns must be addressed. That means a comprehensive evaluation of safety, security and emergency preparedness."
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Greenpeace Co-founder joins Giuliani in supporting Indian Point (Mid Hudson News)
November 22, 2006
Yonkers - Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Co-Founder of Greenpeace Patrick Moore came out in support of Indian Point Energy Center operator Entergy renewing a 20-year license to run the facility. Both said that the Rockland County-based powerplant is one of the most safest nuclear power facilities in the United States, and should be a model for future ones.
Mayor Giuliani, who runs the security consulting firm hired by Entergy, Guiliani Partners, said that Indian Point is "perfectly safe" and that as a nuclear plant, it "gives no more of a risk to society than any other industry around."
Giuliani cited examples of how other countries around the world are using only nuclear and hydroelectric power to serve at least 80-90% of their populations. He noted that Sweden, one of the world leaders in environmental safety, now has done away with using fossil fuels for energy, and has focused completely on nuclear and hydroelectric power, eliminating harmful carbon dioxide emissions.
He also noted that Finland is currently building the world's largest nuclear power plant; he said the United States should be right behind them.
"The usage of nuclear energy is more practical now than ever," Guiliani said during a news conference held this morning at the Yonkers Public Library.
"We need to keep up with the rest of the world in terms of environmental safety and emerging population solutions. We need to begin to move away from fossil fuels as quick as possible."
Greenpeace Co-Founder Patrick Moore was also on hand to support Entergy's licensing renewal, and told attendees, with a smirk on his face, that he feels that workers at Indian Point are "safer than those in banking and finance."
He also claimed that nuclear power is not only safer, but in the long run will be more affordable to residents.
"Nuclear power is less expensive than coal, and we feel that Indian Point will be a strong competitor considering this. It is time for people to realize that nuclear power is the way to go."
Guiliani claimed that evacuation and safety issues many, including Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano, have brought up in the past few years are not only the responsibility of the plant operator Entergy, but also the duty of local public officials in the county and state.
He said he feels that they have appropriately collaborated in the past, and will do so in the future, hopefully alleviating many of the risks adversaries may have.
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Entergy seeks Indian Point license renewal (Crains)
David Jones
November 22, 2006
Entergy Corp. said it will ask federal regulators for a new 20-year license for the controversial Indian Point nuclear station.
Buchanan, N.Y.-based Indian Point generates about two million kilowatts of power, enough to generating up to 38% of the power used in the Hudson Valley and New York City. The existing licenses for Indian Point's two reactors are scheduled to expire in 2013 and 2015.
Rep. Nita Lowey said she would fight against renewed license for Indian Point, saying federal regulators must force new safety and security improvements at the site.
"In recent years, we have seen shut downs, system failures and unmonitored radioactive leaks from the facility," Ms. Lowey said in a statement. "No one would build Indian Point in Westchester today - the area is too densely populated and local emergency response officials strongly believe that the evacuation plans are inadequate.
Entergy has been working with a team of security experts from Giuliani Partners, the consulting firm led by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.
Entergy, based in New Orleans, is the second biggest nuclear power producer in the U.S., behind Chicago-based Exelon Corp. Entergy has 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
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Entergy's press conference about Indian Point delivers a "safe, secure, vital" message - plus "survival bags." (The Journal News)
Phil Reisman
November 23, 2006
Whether you approve of nuclear energy or not, you have to credit Entergy Nuclear Northeast's diabolical genius for controlling "the message." First of all, timing is critical to the art of spin.
The size of an audience can be narrowed or expanded simply by picking the right moment to make a big announcement.
Nuclear power is controversial in the densely populated Westchester County region, and so if you're Entergy and you own the aging Indian Point power plant in Buchanan, you might consider announcing your plan to seek a 20-year license renewal on the eve of the Thanksgiving holiday. And that's exactly what Entergy did.
Fewer people are bound to be paying attention to today's news. On Thanksgiving, it's about cranberry sauce and football, not radiation leaks.
But clever timing wasn't the only thing in play.
From free coffee to Danish pastry, Entergy's press conference in Yonkers yesterday was a PR tour de force. They don't pay Burson-Marsteller, the worldwide, super-duper spinmeisters, the big bucks for doing nothing.
Before the conference started, they played soothing elevator music. There were more suits in sight than at a discount rack at Syms, and they were there to applaud on cue. Buttons made to look like vanity license plates saying "Right4NY" were handled out - and I swore I actually saw a guy on the press side of the aisle wearing one.
Going out the door, goody bags were available for the taking, courtesy of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance. One of the nice women handing them out called them "survival bags." Each contained a hat, a scarf, a flashlight, a pen and ChapStick.
What, no potassium iodide? I asked.
The cast of characters was perfection itself. The leading man was none other than former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, the hero of 9/11 who is the CEO of the eponymous firm that handles security at Indian Point as well a lead candidate for president in 2008. Depending how much you believe in polls, he may be the lead candidate.
Echoing the company motto, Giuliani said Indian Point was safe and secure. In fact, he said it several times.
He also acknowledged the reality of risk. "But you don't get anything for nothing in this life," he said, sounding a bit like the philosophical but stern uber-Dad from his mayoral years.
Giuliani's presence was the draw, and his star power as a national candidate served two obvious purposes: First, it provided Entergy with a credible front man who instantaneously personified the virtue of grace under fire. And second, as a political star with national appeal, he provided a distraction from the operating issues that have plagued Indian Point for many years. No one was about to delve into the whys and wherefores behind the lead story in Tuesday's Journal News, the headline of which said: "Feds: Contamination levels 7 times higher at Indian Pt."
Another speaker was Patrick Moore, a co-founder 20 years ago of the Greenpeace environmental group, who has become a smoothly convincing booster of nuclear energy as the preferred means of providing electricity because it's clean, relatively cheap and efficient and it doesn't contribute to global warming the way coal-burning plants do. Moore got a big laugh from the receptive audience of suits when he said that working at a nuclear power plant was safer than working in real estate and the financial services industry.
Included in the thick Entergy press kit was a pro-nuke article written in 2006 by Moore for The Washington Post. Not included was a profile written about Moore two years earlier by Wired magazine, titled "Eco-Traitor."
Though ostensibly balanced in its reporting, the article noted that he became a "mouthpiece" for the kinds of industries Greenpeace was organized to oppose. "He argues that the Amazon rain forest is doing fine," Wired said, "that the Three Gorges Dam is the smartest thing China could do for its energy supply, and that opposition to genetically modified foods is tantamount to mass murder."
Entergy got support from current mayors, big and and small. Mayor Phil Amicone of Yonkers put in a good word for the nukesters, as did Mayor Dan O'Neill of Buchanan, Indian Point's host municipality.
I asked O'Neill how much Entergy contributed to Buchanan's tax base. He replied that it accounted for 37 percent of the village's operating budget, which is quite a bit.
Entergy used to kick in more, however. They took Buchanan to court and got their taxes reduced.
Six questions were taken from the floor. (At least two of the questions didn't make any sense, but that's not Entergy's fault.) When a reporter raised a hand, they were handed a microphone and videotaped.
This was an absolutely brilliant move on Entergy's part. Not only was it slightly intimidating, it turned the tables on the questioning reporters. It made them unwitting participants in an Entergy infomercial. They became props, free of charge.
What a dog-and-pony show. A real press wrangle.
The room was ringed with beefy security guards, and there were two Yonkers cops standing in the library lobby.
Entergy orchestrated an airtight lockdown. You got a free flashlight, but it wasn't about light. It was about message, and the message was under full control - safe, secure, vital.
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Owner applies for renewal to license Indian Point (AP, Newsday)
November 22, 2006
YONKERS, N.Y. (AP) _ The company that owns and operates the Indian Point nuclear power plants announced Wednesday that it will ask for federal approval to operate the facility for 20 more years.
Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which took over the facility five years ago, operates Indian Point Two and Three in Buchanan. Together they produce more than 2,000 megawatts of power, enough to meet 18 to 38 percent of the daily electricity needs of customers in the lower Hudson Valley and New York City.
Entergy made the announcement during a discussion on the future of the Indian Point nuclear power plant attended by former Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Entergy President Mike Kansler, and the co-founder and former head of the environmental group, Greenpeace, Patrick Moore.
Giuliani, whose consulting firm Giuliani Partners has worked with Entergy on security issues, characterized Indian Point as "one of the safest plants." The company has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to improve security and safety features.
"When you look at the number of people injured harmed or effected by accidents occurring at power facilities, nuclear power turns out to be, if not the safest, just about the safest," Giuliani said.
But environmental groups and some residents who live near the plant have fought for years to get it closed because of safety concerns.
Several municipalities have passed resolutions demanding that it be shut down. Complaints about the possibility of a catastrophic accident have intensified since the Sept. 11, 2002 terrorist attacks.
Kansler said the company will undergo a 24-month review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as part of its re-licensing application. He said the process will amount to "a rigorous top to bottom review of Indian Point based on an exhaustive examination of the facts."
Moore said nuclear energy was preferable to some other ways of creating electricity that generate more air pollution, like burning coal.
Moore said that studies have shown no one has ever been injured or got cancer from the 1979 accident at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania, characterized as the worst nuclear accident in the country.
Indian Point Two began operating in 1974 and produces 1,032 megawatts. Indian Point Three began in 1976 and produces 1,051 megawatts.
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Indian Point will request 20 more years on its license (Times Herald-Record)
By Greg Bruno
November 23, 2006
Yonkers - With star-studded support from a presidential hopeful and an iconic environmentalist, owners of the Indian Point nuclear power plant yesterday announced plans to continue operating for the next 30 years.
Flanked by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Patrick Moore, the Greenpeace founder-turned nuclear cheerleader, Entergy Nuclear Northeast said it will ask regulators to extend their operating license until at least 2035.
"Safe, secure, vital is not just a slogan; it's a way of life," Entergy President Mike Kansler told supporters at a packed midday news conference inside this city's riverfront library. "Brownouts would likely result were we to lose the 2,000 megawatts of Indian Point."
Giuliani, whose firm, Giuliani Partners, has done extensive security consulting work for Entergy since 2003, offered a rousing endorsement of nuclear power and Indian Point specifically.
The former mayor, who filed papers with the Federal Election Commission on Monday to establish a presidential exploratory committee, said the region could not recover from the loss of the plant's electrical output.
"New York City depends on Indian Point," Giuliani said. "It would be impossible to get through the summers" without it.
He added: "Indian Point is as safe as a facility can be."
First licensed in 1974 and 1976, Indian Point 2 and 3 are among the longest continually operating units in the country; only Oyster Creek in New Jersey and Nine Mile Point in New York, both licensed in 1969, are older.
The timing and location of the announcement brought groans from some longtime plant critics yesterday.
Lisa Rainwater, director of the Indian Point campaign for Riverkeeper, said if local support for the facility was so strong, why make such an important announcement a day before Thanksgiving in Yonkers, 30 miles south of the facility?
"It's as good a time as any," Kansler said.
Once Entergy submits its application for a 20-year extension to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the review process could take up to 30 months, an agency spokeswoman said. Licenses for the plant's two reactors expire in 2013 and 2015.
Of the 103 nuclear reactors licensed in the United States, 47 have been granted 20-year extensions; the NRC has never denied an application.
For Entergy, the decision to pursue a license renewal comes at a politically important time in Indian Point's life cycle. Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, calls for the plant's closure have been vocal, with critics claiming the New York City area could not be protected from an accidental or terrorism-related release of radioactivity.
Then in March, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer told supporters he favored mothballing the facility "when we are certain that there is adequate replacement power" and said he would work to ensure the NRC did not renew the plant's permits.
Newly elected U.S. Rep. John Hall, a Democrat, has also been vocal in vows to close the plant.
The list of opponents has only grown as operating gaffes - from leaking radioactive cooling water to accidental shutdowns - continue to make headlines.
But in drawing on Giuliani and Moore, plant supporters appeared to be thumbing a nose at critics who contend an older plant is a dangerous one.
"We can't afford to luxury of abandoning an existing facility when the needs for power downstate are so great," said Jerry Kremer, advisory board chairman of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance.
"There's no replacement for Indian Point."
READER REACTION
finnigan143
November 23, 2006 06:06 AM I l-o-v-e air conditioning in the summer. And I l-o-v-e running my dishwasher after the Thanksgiving meal. I l-o-v-e to take a hot shower every day. I don't want brown-outs or even worse - those rolling black-outs that California deals with. I believe Indian Point is safe. It's safer than coal and I DON'T like that our countery is fighting a war for oil. All other renewable energy sources seem ........... impractible. I am definately in favor of keeping Indian Point open. I wish The Times Herald Record would write an article about people like me who are in favor of nuclear Power for once!
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Indian Point owner seeks license renewal (The Journal News)
By Bruce Golding and Glenn Blain
November 23, 2006
The owner of the controversial Indian Point nuclear power plants wants to renew its federal licenses and keep producing atomic energy in northern Westchester through 2035.
Entergy Nuclear Northeast announced the plan yesterday in Yonkers, where former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, a potential Republican presidential candidate, and Patrick Moore, a founder of the Greenpeace environmental group, said keeping the reactors running in Buchanan would help guarantee local electrical needs and would fight air pollution and global warming.
Giuliani, whose consulting company drew up security plans and mock-attack drills for Entergy, said Indian Point was "about as safe as a facility could be."
"If you didn't have a nuclear power plant here, it's just the truth that you wouldn't be able to supply power," he said. "You have to look at the possibility of blackouts and brownouts having a much bigger impact on safety than the possibility of a problem at a nuclear power plant."
Nuclear opponents had long expected yesterday's announcement and began working last year to block any renewal of the plants' licenses, in part because of fears of a terrorist attack. More than 20 local governments have passed resolutions against a relicensing.
Mark Jacobs of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition said the aging plants posed too great a danger to continue in service.
"Indian Point is located in the most densely populated area of any nuclear power plant in the country, with over 20 million people within 50 miles," Jacobs said.
Yesterday's announcement came one day after it was revealed that government tests had found more than seven times the level of a dangerous radioactive material leaking into the site's groundwater than had been reported by a laboratory hired by Entergy.
The leak was discovered last year.
The two operating reactors at Indian Point generate 2,000 megawatts of electricity, which meets between 18 percent and 38 percent of the region's daily needs, Entergy Nuclear Northeast President Mike Kansler said yesterday.
Kansler warned that closing Indian Point would result in "sharply higher electricity costs, increased volatility of natural-gas prices and a significant increase in the kind of air pollution that leads to global warming."
Moore, who is no longer affiliated with Greenpeace, described nuclear power as a safe alternative to fossil fuels, and he called the possibility of danger to the public "almost far-fetched."
Jim Riccio, Greenpeace's nuclear policy analyst, attacked Moore's credibility, saying he was "making a living being a foil to his activist brothers."
Riccio also said Greenpeace helped "shut down four reactors in Connecticut, and the lights miraculously stayed on."
"We can shut down Indian Point and get the energy elsewhere," he said.
Paul Gunter of the Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Washington, D.C., said increased energy efficiency and conservation could help phase out the Indian Point plants, which he called "pre-deployed weapons of mass destruction."
Several elected officials joined Entergy at its announcement yesterday, including George Oros, R-Cortlandt Manor, minority leader of the Westchester County Board of Legislators; Buchanan Mayor Daniel O'Neill; and Yonkers Mayor Philip Amicone.
"Indian Point is contributing to our growth," Amicone said. "We cannot afford to have this facility go down."
Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano will oppose the relicensing applications because he believes there is no way to evacuate residents in case of an emergency, said Susan Tolchin, Spano's chief adviser.
Two local congressional representatives, Eliot Engel, D-Bronx, and Nita Lowey, D-Harrison, also issued statements opposing relicensing.
New York's senators, Charles Schumer and Hillary Rodham Clinton, both Democrats, did not take positions and instead called for a comprehensive review that would address public concerns.
A spokeswoman said Gov.-elect Eliot Spitzer opposed relicensing the plants and would "review Entergy's application and make a determination of what steps the state can take."
The original 40-year licenses for Indian Point 2 and 3 are set to expire in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Indian Point 1, the country's first commercial nuclear plant, was closed in 1974.
Jim Steets, an Entergy spokesman, said formal applications for 20-year license extensions would be made in late April.
Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the review process generally took 22 or 30 months, depending on whether a multiple-day public hearing was held.
To date, the NRC has renewed licenses for 47 of the nation's 103 operating nuclear plants, he said.
"This process has a great deal of transparency," Sheehan said. "We hope there's public involvement all the way."
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Entergy Nuclear reapplies for Indian Point license (Albany Business Review)
November 24, 2006
The Independent Power Producers of New York Inc., an Albany, N.Y., group that represents electricity generators in the state, said it is important to the state's overall energy supply for the Indian Point Energy Center to get relicensed.
Entergy Nuclear Northeast said this week it was reapplying to the federal government for approval to operate the nuclear power facility in Westchester County for 20 more years.
Gavin Donohue, president and CEO of the Independent Power Producers of New York, said Indian Point supplies one-third of the power needs of downstate New York. The facility generates 2,000 megawatts of power, which is capable of lighting 2 million homes.
"As New York's energy demand continues to grow, so does the importance of Indian Point," Donohue said.
Opponents of Indian Point say the facility is too close to the metropolitan New York area and that evacuation of the densely populated region would be impossible in case of a serious accident or a terrorist attack.
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NY Smog Leads Greenpeace Co-Founder to Support Relicensing Nuke (Power Market Today)
27 November 2006
Entergy has managed to gain the support of the co-founder of environmental group Greenpeace for filing to relicense the 2,000 MW Indian Point Energy Center nuclear power plant for another 20 years. Other environmentalists, however, say relicensing the plant would ignore serious groundwater problems, a continuing security risk and the continuing problem of what to do with nuclear waste.
Indian Point's two units in Buchanan, NY generate enough power to meet 18-38% of the lower Hudson Valley's and New York City's electricity needs on any given day. A recent National Academy of Sciences (NAS) study warned the loss of Indian Point's 2,000 MW would result in higher levels of environmentally harmful greenhouse gas emissions because the bulk of the replacement power would necessitate the burning of dirtier fossil fuels. Although the NAS study said it might be "technically feasible" to shutdown Indian Point, it also concluded that to do so would mean sharply higher electricity bills and would exacerbate volatile energy price swings that have plagued the natural gas market in recent years.
"There are obviously some who might find it surprising that a co-founder and former leader of Greenpeace would have anything good to say about nuclear power. But climate change is a serious and growing problem today and nuclear energy holds the greatest potential to meet that threat," said Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore.
"In downstate New York, which has arguably the worst air quality of any region in the country due to high levels of ozone and particulate pollution, emission-free nuclear power is an absolutely critical part of the equation to cost effectively secure cleaner air. It is well established that this pollution has harmful health effects, especially for children and the elderly, and needs to be addressed now," said Moore.
Entergy also has support from regional business groups because of the potential impact a plant shutdown would have on regional power prices. "With electricity demand soaring, a dearth of new plants being constructed or planned because of the expiration of the state's power plant siting law, Indian Point is more important and beneficial to the downstate region than ever," said Jerry Kremer, a retired chairman of the New York Assembly's Ways and Means Committee who now serves as the advisory board chairman of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance.
Meanwhile, Entergy also touted recent security testing at the plant that concluded there are sufficient measures in place to reduce the security threat. Security experts at Giuliani Partners, the consulting firm headed by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, have found security at the plant to be more than adequate. Giuliani said that his firm came to that conclusion based on an "extensive and ongoing review" of the security measures and training procedures at Indian Point, including the use of highly realistic "force-on-force" drills, whereby mock terrorists, played in some instances by former U.S. Navy Seals, have tested the plant's security defenses.
"Since our purchase of Indian Point five years ago, we have invested hundreds of millions in enhanced security and safety features for these two critically important components of New York State's energy infrastructure," said Mike Kansler, president of Entergy Nuclear Northeast, during a press conference in Yonkers, NY on Wednesday. He said the plant is "vitally important to the economic and environmental health of our region."
However, Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Watchdog Project for Nuclear Information and Resource Service in Takoma Park, MD, takes issue with all of these findings. Gunter said New York's and the nation's energy policy should look to energy efficiency measures and renewable energy first before considering the relicensing of nuclear power plants, which have numerous environmental consequences and huge security risks despite the measures currently being taken to prevent terrorist attacks. Gunter said new gas-fired generation could be a "bridge" toward more renewable resources and greater energy efficiency and conservation.
"[Patrick Moore] gets his sound bites as well as his paychecks from the Nuclear Energy Institute," said Gunter. Moore's consulting firm, Greenspirit Enterprises, has been criticized for its work with the nuclear, biotechnology and forestry industries. "He's a paid consultant.
"Indian Point is sitting on top of a lake of contaminated groundwater that has been determined to not only include tritium, the third isotope of hydrogen, but also strontium 90 [a fission byproduct that causes bone cancer and leukemia]," Gunter said. "There are now even discrepancies in what the real levels of strontium 90 are.
"The nuclear industry and its promoters, such as Patrick Moore, are obfuscating some very real and unresolved issues about extending this plant's life by 20 years. First of all there's the question of what do you do with all the nuclear waste...If we don't know what to do with nuclear waste now, there's no reasonable assurance that we will know what to do with it 20 years from now."
Gunter noted that the only storage site the nation currently is considering is in Yucca Mountain, NV, which is near earthquake faults and some of the youngest volcanoes in North America.
Regarding security, Gunter noted that 9-11 terrorist Mohamed Atta took training flights down the Hudson River past the Indian Point plant. "The original al-Qaeda plan was to hijack aircraft and direct them into nuclear power stations," he noted. "That's in the 9-11 Commission report."
However, in relicensing proceedings the Nuclear Regulatory Commission does allow security issues to be raised. Environmentalists are challenging that policy in court currently.
"The first step in any twenty-first century energy policy will be to maximize energy efficiency and conservation," said Gunter. "These guys are talking about profits. They're not talking about maximizing the service from appliances and operations at residential, commercial and industrial levels. They don't care about that. Their focus is completely on generation. In facing global warming, that's becoming more and more recognized as being irresponsible. New York City has a tremendous potential for energy efficiency and conservation that needs to be aggressively sought after. That's got to be the first step. This is where the greatest gains are to be made."
Local politicians and community organizations have tried for years to shut the Indian Point plant, which is located in heavily populated and wealthy Westchester County about 45 miles north of New York City.
Once the NRC accepts an application for license renewal, it could take about two years to make a final decision on the application. The two units at Indian Point, 979 MW Unit 2 and 991 MW Unit 3, entered service in 1973 and 1976, respectively.
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Metro Briefing New York: Buchanan: License Renewal Sought For Indian Point (The New York Times)
November 23, 2006
By ETHAN WILENSKY-LANFORD;Compiled by John Sullivan
The company that owns and operates the Indian Point nuclear reactors said yesterday it would seek federal approval to operate the reactors for 20 years after their original licenses expire. The company, Entergy Nuclear Northeast, operates the Indian Point 2 and 3 reactors, which jointly produce about 2,000 megawatts of electricity. Indian Point 2's license is to expire in 2013 and Indian Point 3's in 2015. The reactors must undergo a review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission before a renewal can be granted.
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UPDATE 1-Entergy seeks to renew N.Y. Indian Pt licenses (Reuters)
November 22, 2006
NEW YORK, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Entergy Corp. said Wednesday that it would seek a 20-year extension of the operating licenses for the 1,970-megawatt Indian Point nuclear power station in New York.
A spokesman for the plant said the company would likely file the application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission in March or April 2007.
In a release, the New Orleans-based company said the plant generates jobs, tax revenues and low-cost electricity without producing greenhouse gas emissions that would be expensive to replace.
Several local politicians and community organizations, however, have tried for years to shut the plant, which is located in Buchanan in the heavily populated and wealthy Westchester County about 45 miles north of New York City.
They are sure to oppose the company's application to renew the plant's licenses, electricity traders said.
Once the NRC accepts an application for license renewal, it usually takes the agency about 22 months to make a decision on the application without a hearing or 30 months with a hearing.
The NRC uses the license renewal process to determine how an operator will manage the aging of a reactor. It is a two-step process including safety and environmental reviews.
There are two units at the station - the 979 MW Unit 2 and the 991 MW Unit 3. The spokesman said the current 40-year operating licenses for the units expire in 2013 and 2015.
One MW powers about 800 homes in New York.
In a release, Entergy pointed to a recent National Academy of Sciences study that warned the loss of Indian Point would result in higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions because the bulk of the replacement power would likely come from the burning of dirtier fossil fuels.
Although the study said it might be "technically feasible" to shut down Indian Point, it concluded that to do so would mean sharply higher electricity bills and exacerbate the volatile price swings that have plagued the natural gas market in recent years, Entergy said.
Entergy owns and operates about 30,000 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes power to 2.6 million customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.
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Entergy To Seek 20-Year License Renewal For Indian Point (Dow Jones Energy Service)
November 22, 2006
NEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Entergy Corp. (ETR) plans to seek approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to renew the Indian Point nuclear plant's operating license for 20 years, the company said Wednesday.
Indian Point is "vitally important to the economic and environmental health of our region," Entergy Nuclear Northeast president Mike Kansler said in a statement. The dual-unit plant generates about 1,955 MW of electricity and is located in Buchanan, N.Y., about 45 miles north of New York City.
Local municipalities and environmental groups have repeatedly called for the plant to be shut down, arguing that Indian Point's proximity to New York City could have catastrophic health and economic consequences in the event of a terrorist attack or accident at the plant site. Riverkeeper, a group that aims to protect New York's Hudson River ecosystem, launched a campaign in March 2005 to prevent the license renewal.
Entergy officials counter that the company has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in enhanced security at the plant since Entergy acquired Indian Point from the New York Power Authority and Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ED) in 2000. The company has worked with Giuliani Partners, the consulting firm helmed by former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, to improve security at the site.
A study released in June by the National Academy of Sciences concluded that replacing Indian Point with other sources of power would be technically feasible, but political, regulatory and financial hurdles would make it difficult to do so. The closure of Indian Point would result in higher levels of greenhouse gas emissions because the plant would be replaced primarily by natural gas-fired facilities, the study stated.
New Orleans-based Entergy owns and operates about 30,000 MW of electric generating capacity and is the second-largest nuclear power operator in the U.S., behind Chicago's Exelon Corp. (EXC).
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