NRC asks Indian Point for more earthquake studies

In March 2011, a 9.0-magnitude earthquake shook Fukushima, Japan, toppling buildings, creating a tsunami and serving as the catalyst for a three-reactor nuclear meltdown at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.

The question of whether a Fukushima-like disaster could happen on U.S. soil has been a dominant topic ever since, with radioactive-level arguments between environmental activists and the nuclear power industry. Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan has been a focal point for scrutiny due to its proximity to New York City and within 50 miles of the homes of 17 million.

This month, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Indian Point the power plant needed to conduct more analyses into the potential impacts of earthquakes on the plant. The NRC listed 21 power plants in the country that needed to file additional studies by 2017 because their quake risks have changed since the original design and construction of those plants. None of the plants are immediate safety concerns, according to Eric Leeds, director of the NRC”™s office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

“We”™re closely following the industry”™s response and we”™re confident the plants are safe to continue operating,” Leeds said. “Plants must also do shorter-term work to see if they should enhance key safety equipment.”

The largest quake in New York state history was a 5.8-magnitude 1944 quake that hit from Massena, N.Y., up into Canada, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. Indian Point has said that as part of its safety requirements, it continually studies its reactors”™ durability in the event of the largest possible quakes expected for the area. After Fukushima, the NRC asked all U.S. plants to share information for risk assessment. Indian Point also undertook its own studies recently due to the increased scrutiny on the plant.

A 2011 NBC story that asked “What are the odds?” and ranked U.S. plants”™ vulnerability said Indian Point had the greatest earthquake risk of any nuclear power plant in the country. New Orleans-based Entergy Corp., which owns Indian Point, called that ranking erroneous and conducted studies partially to refute the ranking and debunk the article premises.

Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi said, “We”™re protected from the strongest earthquake that could be expected at the site.”

NBC”™s story said Indian Point was even more likely to be damaged in an earthquake than California power stations near tectonic fault lines.

“Each year, at the typical nuclear reactor in the U.S., there”™s a 1 in 74,176 chance of an earthquake strong enough to cause damage to the reactor”™s core, which could expose the public to radiation. No tsunami required,” reporter Bill Dedman wrote. “That”™s 10 times more likely than you winning $10,000 by buying a single ticket in the Powerball multistate lottery, where the chance is 1 in 723,145.”

Nappi said the company undertook an earthquake study in response to that report and to ease concerns the plant was not shored up in the event of a seismic shift. “We knew from our own analysis that was not the case, so we had engineers go out over the course of two years,” he said. “We just wanted to do it to demonstrate to the public our actual seismic capabilities.”

Rep. Nita Lowey, a Harrison resident and the senior Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee, said in response to the NRC request for more data that she was authoring a bill prohibiting a reactor”™s operating license from being renewed if seismic evidence proves the plant wouldn”™t have originally received its permit.

“This report from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission confirms once again my long-held belief that Indian Point is in need of major improvements and, in general, nuclear power facilities need tough, thorough oversight,” she said.

Entergy is looking to relicense Indian Point”™s two reactors for another 20 years amid opposition from environmental groups and politicians including Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The company filed for renewal in 2007, making its relicensing process the lengthiest in U.S. history. No plant in history has ever closed due to an expiring license.

Entergy, which has annual revenues of more than $10 billion, bought Indian Point 2 from Con Edison in 2001, one year after it purchased unit 3 from the New York Power Authority. Reactor 2”™s permit expired last year but was extended until the end of the NRC”™s relicensing review process. Unit 3”™s operating permit expires in December 2015. (Indian Point”™s reactor No. 1 is no longer in use).