“Sure, let”™s close Indian Point,” a colleague remarked the other day. “The lights go out. Then what? We all sit around and light a match?”
Sarcastic, yes, but he makes a valid point.
It”™s easy to say “Shut it down!” Opponents of the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan have long termed the facility “an accident waiting to happen.” And for those who have been clamoring for its closing, the horrors in Japan are serving to further their cause.
Is Indian Point safe? Is it susceptible to seismic activity? Tremors? Terrorists? A tidal surge, as someone actually suggested at a Westchester County Board of Legislators meeting last week?
In our 24/7 news cycle, Indian Point is the it-could-happen-here disaster du jour.
Remember the August 2007 Interstate 35 bridge collapse in Minneapolis that killed 13 people?
The resulting spotlight shone brightly on the Tappan Zee Bridge.
The Tappan Zee and the I-35 collapse quickly became intertwined in news stories, such as they were both found to be “structurally deficient” by the Federal Highway Administration. Well, yes, the Tap and 2,010 other bridges in New York state shared that rating.
Yet, here we are four years later and no closer, really, to a solution for the Tappan Zee ”“ a critical artery in the Northeast. There have been more studies ”“ and costly repairs ”“ but no formal plan has been released, at least not to our knowledge.
As for the catastrophe in Japan, of course “it” could happen here. But “what-ifs” should not be the determining factor when making critical decisions.
Fear is a powerful motivator. It”™s not a wise course of action, though. It clouds judgment.
Risk-assessment is a vital part of contingency planning. What has happened ”“ and continues to unfold ”“ in Japan should be scrutinized.
There will be lessons to be learned from that country”™s real-life perfect storm of tsunami and nuclear reactors.
But while we hope the worst is over, over there, it”™s too early to say what those lessons will be.
Over here, Entergy appears to be playing ball with government officials and doing its part to calm and inform.
We question the motives of the “shut ”™em down” crowd. We are wary of the opportunistic factions and those prone to political posturing. Power grabs can sometimes be disguised as heroic efforts.
Still, there are many well-intentioned and knowledgeable people behind the growing contingent to close Indian Point. This is a momentous matter.
But one can be safety-minded to a fault.
There are some realities that often get omitted from the discussion.
Indian Point generates 2,000 megawatts of electricity to ConEd and the New York Power Authority ”“ enough to power about 2 million homes. It supplies from 18 percent to 38 percent of the region”™s electrical demand, depending on the season.
It generates about $26 million in property taxes and payments in lieu of taxes.
It employs 1,250 people.
Closing the plant would has a significant financial impact on the region.
And where would the energy come from?
“Nobody wants to build a coal-fired power plant, at least not in New York,” Buchanan Mayor Sean Murray told a reporter for a story this week.
“And it would take 2,000 wind turbines to replace Indian Point. There”™s not enough solar power available reliably here. Even natural gas ”“ you have to get the gas somehow; fossil fuels have their own negative sides. If you close Indian Point, you have to get the energy back somehow.”
When the smoke clears ”“ literally ”“ cooler heads will likely prevail. We”™re hopeful serious and meaningful discussions follow.
We fear there will be another catastrophe long before any solutions arise for the Tappan Zee or Indian Point. Whether it will be halfway across the country or halfway around the world, our attention will again be focused on crumbling infrastructure, nuclear power plants and fault lines.
It is a political exaggeration to claim there is “a growing contingent” for shutting Indian Point down.
The same voices, representing about 20% of the populace (by Manhattanville poll 2007, 2008) are returning to the media stage, after growing silent for two-three years, after being rebuked by the 80% majority.
They did not enjoy losing, and so now they are back, hectoring us again, with their illogic.
Fukushima withstood its earthquake intact. This was a 9.0 earthquake, 50,000 times more powerful than any ever expected near here- And Fukushima withstood it.
Fukushima’s diesel oil tanks were protected by a 20 foot sea wall, which was overtopped by a 35 foot wave. Indian Point’s diesels sit above 70 foot elevation, requiring a wave 3 times as large as Fukushima’s tsunami.
Such a wave would obliterate the New York metro region entirely, rendering focused nuclear fears moot.
Our media are paper thin, with no depth.
(Journal news has even narrowed its paper edition). Media have allowed the purple “nook falderal” to wipe all compassionate coverage of recovery efforts in Japan off our front pages, focusing us instead on agendist bogeymen from the fantasyland of the 1979 antinuke movement.
Shame.
With 20,000 Japanese citizens dead, and perhaps several million homeless, all American media can take away from the event is a rehash of 501(c)3 antinuclear charity collection groups’ warmed over recruitment propaganda?
Shame again.
( Not a single person has been killed by Fukushima Dai-Ichi … 3 men have been slightly burned)
Wake up, deal with reality.