INDIAN POINT
Indian Point Gets Top Grade From NRC for 2004
May 11, 2005 -- The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) gave Indian Point nuclear plant 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.
Before Entergy bought the plant in 2001, Indian Point 2 received the country's first red designation for a nuclear plant, the worst safety rating. Entergy invested more than $500,000 to get the site to its current status.
Report Says IP Good For Local Economy
AAEA Files Petition For Nuke Water Permit
The African American Environmentalist Association filed a petition on February 12, 2004 to the Department of Environmental Conservatrion requesting full party status and an adjudicatory hearing on Entergy Nuclear Indian Point 2 LLC and Entergy Nuclear Indian Point 3 LLC’s Application for a State Pollution Discharge Elimination System (“SPDES”) Permit for the Indian Point 2 and Indian Point 3 (collectively, “Indian Point 2 and 3”) facilities, and pursuant to 6 NYCRR §624.5. Petition is in Documents.
DEC Hearing On Hudson River Water Permit
Jan 28 2004 WHITE PLAINS, NY- A panel from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) heard testimony on the environmental effects of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. AAEA presented testimony at the hearing (Click Documents). The DEC proposed tentative permit terms for Indian Point 2 and Indian Point 3's discharge permit, which controls cooling water and other discharges to the Hudson. In November 2003 the state ordered Entergy, the plant’s owner, to stop using the Hudson River water to cool its reactors and use cooling towers. The reason is because intake screens at the plant are blamed for killing millions of fish eggs. The plant’s opponents say the DEC was wrong to give Entergy 15 years to fix the problem. The DEC could order Indian Point to shut down if they don’t change their cooling system.
Entergy had offered to continue with the Existing Permit terms, which extensive DEC-directed biological monitoring has indicated protects Hudson River fisheries and preserves Entergy's flexibility in operating the stations. However, the DEC did not accept Entergy's proposal. Instead, DEC staff proposed a permit that would require -- among other things -- additional flow reductions limiting cooling water use, forced annual outages of 42 days during a several-month period from late spring to summer, an annual payment of $24 million dollars to the DEC, and, if the stations seek a license extension, the construction of cooling towers estimated to costs in excess of $1 billion dollars -- costs which may compromise the continued Station operations.
