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NY State To Discuss Indian Point With Nuclear Agency

NEW YORK (WCBS 880/AP) -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says his staff will meet Tuesday with nuclear regulators to discuss whether a disaster like the one in Japan could happen at the Indian Point power plant.

Indian Point is 38 miles north of New York City on the Hudson River. It sits near the Ramapo Fault, but earthquakes on that fault line are rare.

Cuomo said Saturday that Lt. Gov. Robert Duffy and Director of State Operations Howard Glaser will meet with members of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

WCBS 880's Marla Diamond has more on the demands for risk assessment at Indian Point

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Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said federal regulators have ignored the plants' quake safety in the relicensing process.

"The potential for harm is so catastrophic that it has to be taken into account," Schneiderman told WCBS 880's Marla Diamond.

Entergy Corp., which runs the plant, says the reactors are safe. Spokesman Jim Steets said the reactors are built to withstand a magnitude-6 earthquake, and the plant's backup electrical generators are on high ground and safe from any tsunami that might swell the Hudson River.

The New York Public Interest Research Group plans to request that Cuomo also discuss the state's other aging nuclear plants at the NRC meeting.

NYPIRG's Laura Haight said Saturday that five of the state's six nuclear plants have been operating since 1980.

She said a letter to Cuomo will be delivered Sunday.

The Sierra Club is also asking the governor to expand his agenda.

A spokesman for Cuomo did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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