Environmental Group Wants Indian Point Nuclear Plant Shut Down Over Loose Bolts
BUCHANAN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A major environmental group is asking for the shutdown of the Indian Point nuclear power plant over safety concerns.
As CBS2's Lou Young reported, the international environmental protection group Friends of the Earth is asking the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to put the Buchanan, Westchester County power plant on ice – until someone can specify why its cooling system bolts are wearing out faster than expected.
Friends of the Earth has never attempted such an action before.
Indian Point Energy Center operators temporarily shut down Unit 2 at the plant recently, and found 277 of its 800 bolts damaged or missing – far more expected in such a critical system.
"It's not good enough to simply think that you can go in and replace the bolts without having figured out what the core problem here is," said Damon Moglen of Friends of the Earth.
The petition asks the NRC to keep Unit 2 shut down for the time being, and to take down the other reactor for inspections to see if it has a similar problem.
"The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has to respond within a quote, 'reasonable time' under the regulation," said Pace University Law Professor Karl Coplan. "But as you might have seen, the petition says: 'You should treat this as an emergency petition. You've got to act now before they restart.'"
Coplan, who specializes in environmental law, said the petition's strongest argument is over missing metal parts somewhere inside the reactor.
"You got a little piece of metal floating around in there, and if it gets in a pump, gets in the way of a control rod, and now you've got a really serious situation," he said.
Plant owner Entergy said the bolt problem is not a major concern.
"Bolts degrade over time due to radiation, heat, pressure, and we're going to replace the bolts that are degraded to put that unit back in service," said Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi. "There are two bolt heads out of about 800 bolts that are missing."
But critics said that could be enough to take the plant offline.
David Freeman, a former president of the New York Power Authority now working with the environmentalists, said we could live without the nukes if we wanted to.
"There's no risk of any power shortage. The New York (Independent System Operator)'s got plenty of surplus," Freeman said.
A spokesman for the NRC said the petitioners will likely have an answer in a matter of weeks.
The local environmental group Riverkeeper filed a similar unsuccessful petition shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, based on security concerns.
