Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders called for the closure of Indian Point Energy Center in a statement released Monday. The Democratic Vermont senator called the Buchanan nuclear energy center “a catastrophe waiting to happen.”
Sanders said the plant should be closed in a “safe and responsible way.”
“It makes no sense to me to continue to operate a decaying nuclear reactor within 25 miles of New York City where nearly 10 million people live,” Sanders said.
The view is similar to that of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who has continually argued that the plant”™s two nuclear reactors not be relicensed by the federal government ”” often citing its location in a densely populated area.
Sanders statement mentions specifically a recent inspection by Entergy, which operates Indian Point, that found 10 percent of the bolts in a removable insert liner in the plant”™s Unit 2 reactor needed to be repaired or replaced.
Sanders is campaigning in New York currently in the run up to its Democratic primary on April 19, where 291 delegates are up for grabs. His opponent, Hillary Clinton, last spoke about Indian Point while she was a New York senator.
Clinton was a senator at the beginning of the Indian Point”™s relicensing process and, in 2007, pushed for legislation that would have required an in-depth inspection of all the plant”™s safety and mechanical systems, spent fuel pools and evacuation plans.
“Everything should be on the table during the relicensing process, and the public’s concerns must be addressed,” Clinton said at the time.
In a statement, Entergy spokesperson Jerry Nappi said Indian Point”™s facilities are examined daily by federal inspectors who could shut down the plant if it was believed to be unsafe. He added that the proximity of Indian Point to a major metropolitan area is common, citing examples in Boston, Chicago, Washington D.C. and several other cities.
“Nuclear power plants like Indian Point emit virtually zero greenhouse gases, and the closure of a plant one-third the size of Indian Point located in the senator”™s home state of Vermont resulted in a seven percent increase in carbon dioxide emissions in 2015,” Nappi said. “It is not possible to meet NYS”™s ambitious clean air environmental goals without Indian Point.”
Sanders said nuclear energy is dangerous even in a perfect world and the U.S. must “lead the world in transforming our energy system away from nuclear power and fossil fuels and towards energy efficiency and renewable energies like wind, solar, geothermal and biomass which will provide safe and clean energy and create millions of good-paying jobs.”
