As the Fukushima reactors disintegrated March 14, the county Board of Legislators Committee on Environment and Energy hastily scrapped its proposed 3 p.m. hearing topic on the Indian Point nuclear reactors ”“ wedge-wire fish-saving screens ”“ and opted for disaster preparedness.
“We did discuss the wedge-wires at the end of the meeting, but the events in Japan created a pall and ”“ given the interest in nuclear energy and in Indian Point in particular ”“ we wanted to find out what the relevance was,” said committee Chairman Michael Kaplowitz. “It”™s a serious issue, but it is far too early to begin making intermediate and long-term plans. Because of what”™s at stake, we need to take an immediate and progressive look at the situation. The ramifications are great and the interest is high.”
“It”™s an emotional issue,” said Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi, who said he had responded to 11 national and local media requests for information.
Nappi said the reinforced steel and concrete containment facilities around the rods at Entergy-owned Indian Point are “among the strongest structures built by man” and are built to worst-case seismology specifications.
“The relevance of what is happening in Japan is unclear at the moment,” Kaplowitz said.
His committee gathered input on reactor design, evacuation plans and what Kaplowitz termed “general considerations”: radiation, plumes, command and control. “We are aware these are snap judgments now, but we are asking the questions,” he said. “We cannot be afraid to ask, but we must act in an intellectually honest way that is fair and appropriate.”
Commissioner Anthony Sutton of the county Department of Emergency Services attended the committee meeting. Asked for his overall position on the plant, Kaplowitz said, “I stand with the best science. When you look at the plant, you must consider costs and benefits. But safety trumps everything.”
Most importantly in relation to Japan ”“ which sits on the Pacific rim”™s so-called Ring of Fire volcano and earthquake zone ”“ is the geological underpinning of Indian Point.
“The seismic activity in this part of the country is much weaker than was seen in Japan,” Nappi said.
Entergy reported the region has sustained two substantial earthquakes in modern history: a magnitude 3.6 earthquake in Rockland County in 1951 and a 5.2 quake in 1884 in New York City that cracked windows and walls from Long Island to Connecticut. Nappi explained that a 6.0 earthquake is 1,000 times weaker than a 9.0 quake, but stressed: “The plants are built to withstand the worst-possible seismic event.”
A lack of cooling in Japan has figured prominently. Nuclear reactions run on their own, making tremendous heat, but they operate in tanks of water that require pumps. At press time, it was unclear what sorts of damage the plants in Japan suffered, but clearly the cooling mechanisms had been compromised. Indian Point has a number of redundant safeguards in place in the event the plant lost power and the cooling pumps were stilled.
Should Indian Point lose power, Nappi said, there are four V-16 diesel generators ”“ “about the size of locomotive engines” ”“ each of which can cool the rods by itself. There are also battery backups that can work without the generators.
“But the fact is, we do not have the type of plate tectonics that produce a magnitude 8.9 earthquake. We”™re not in a tsunami zone,” Nappi said.
Indian Point has filed relicensing papers with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. A ruling is expected in 2013 or 2014, according to Kaplowitz, who has studied nuclear issues for “10 to 12 years” and who has twice headed the county legislature”™s Environment and Energy Committee. “My thinking is if the NRC says ”˜no,”™ you will immediately see a blueprint appear to fit the plant for natural gas,” he said, noting the Iroquois Gas Transmission pipeline runs in the immediate vicinity. “It”™s possible we could have the best of both worlds. It is unlikely today you could get a nuclear plant built on the site of Indian Point, but a natural gas-fired plant ”“ ” Iroquois recently built such a plant in Greene County that uses its own pipeline”™s gas “”“ is a different story. The transmission lines are in place, it”™s cleaner than coal or oil and you have no spent fuel rods. There could be advantages with cooling, taxes, megawattage and jobs.”
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission”™s public affairs officer Diane Screnci, asked if Indian Point faced increased scrutiny either in its operations or with its relicensing application, said, “It”™s too soon to say. We always try to learn from events. We”™ll taker a look and see what we can learn.”
Meantime, she said, the NRC was producing a steady stream of informational releases ”“ nine by the afternoon of March 16 ”“ relating to the accident and available on its website.
