Indian Point Energy Center
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Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC) is a three-unit nuclear power plant station located in Buchanan, New York just south of Peekskill. It sits on the east bank of the Hudson River, 24 miles north of New York City, New York. The plant, which includes two operating Westinghouse pressurized water reactors, is owned and operated by Entergy Nuclear Northeast, a subsidiary of Entergy Corporation. The two reactors were built in 1974 and 1976. Entergy also owns the intact decommissioned Indian Point Unit 1 reactor. Total employment at the site is 1500.
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[edit] Technical Data
[edit] Indian Point Energy Center Capacity
Approx. 2,000 Megawatts (MWe) total
[edit] Indian Point Unit 1 (IP1)
- Acquired from Consolidated Edison
- Deactivated: October 31, 1974
- Unit Status: Retired (non-operational) in safe-storage
[edit] Indian Point Unit 2 (IP2)
- Acquired from Consolidated Edison
- Type: 4-Loop Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
- Reactor & NSSS Manufacturer: Westinghouse
- Architect/Engineer: United Engineers and Constructors (UE&C)
- Commercial operation began August 1974
- License expiration date: September 2013
- Unit Status: Operational
[edit] Indian Point Unit 3 (IP3)
- Acquired from New York Power Authority (NYPA)
- Type: 4-Loop Pressurized Water Reactor (PWR)
- Reactor & NSSS Manufacturer: Westinghouse
- Architect/Engineer: United Engineers and Constructors (UE&C)
- Commercial operation began August 1976
- License expiration date: December 2015
- Unit Status: Operational
[edit] Call for shutdown
The operation of Indian Point has been controversial, as it is opposed by some anti-nuclear and environmental activists. Interest in shutting down Indian Point dates back to 1979 following the Three Mile Island incident, a partial core meltdown with no injuries. Nuclear fallout from the plant could reach populated areas including New York City, northern New Jersey, and Fairfield County, Connecticut. A 1982 study by Sandia National Laboratories found that a core meltdown and radiological release at one of the two operating Indian Point reactors could cause 50,000 near-term deaths from acute radiation syndrome and 14,000 long-term deaths from cancer.[1] Entergy, the operator of the plant, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) insist the plant is safe.
Public health concerns about the plant have also been raised by activists, specifically in terms of radioactive contamination. On February 15, 2000, Indian Point II power plant vented a small amount of radioactive steam when an aging steam generator ruptured. The NRC initially reported that no radioactive material was released, but later changed their report to say that there was a leak, but not of a sufficient amount to threaten public safety.[2] The NRC Information Notice 2000-09 states:
| “ | ...at 7:17 p.m., the Indian Point Unit 2 nuclear plant experienced a steam generator tube failure, which required the declaration of an Alert at 7:29 p.m., and a manual reactor trip at 7:30 p.m. The operators identified that the #24 steam generator was the source of the leak and completed isolation of the #24 steam generator by 8:31 p.m. The licensee exited the Alert at on February 16, 2000 at 6:50 p.m.
The event...resulted in an initial primary-to-secondary leak of reactor coolant of approximately 146 gallons per minute and required an "Alert" declaration (the second level of emergency action in the NRC-required emergency response plan). |
” |
New York metropolitan newspapers reported on September 11, that American Airlines Flight 11 flew almost exactly over the Indian Point Energy Center en route to and no more than eight minutes from the World Trade Center. Mohamed Atta (one of the 9/11 hijackers/plotters) considered nuclear facilities for targeting in a terrorist attack.[3] Entergy claims it is prepared for a terrorist attack, and demonstrated that a large airliner crash into the containment building would not cause reactor damage.[citation needed] The plants are protected by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, as well as by specialized and highly trained private on-site security forces. Plant security across the country has been increased since 9/11. Nuclear plant security is tested by federal officials, including mock assault exercises overseen by the NRC, to assess Indian Point's defenses in the event of an armed assault. In September of 2006, the Security Department successfully completed Force on Force exercises for the NRC.
The environmental activist group Riverkeeper has lobbied more than 400 politicians (including 11 members of Congress), 500 local businesses, and over 200 police officers, firefighters, bus drivers, school teachers, and hospital workers, to call for the plant's closure, criticizing, among other things, its allegedly unworkable emergency plan. In the October/November 2005 edition of The Indypendent (a newspaper run by NYC Indymedia), Alex Matthiessen claimed that Indian Point, about 35 miles from Times Square, remains a terrorist target. Former FEMA director James Lee Witt has said that Indian Point's emergency plan does "not consider the possibilities of a terrorist-caused event," emphasizing that an evacuation in the event of an attack would be impossible given the area's congested roads and population density. In 2003, Michael Brown and Joe Allbaugh certified the plant for operation and approved the evacuation plan. Sue Kelly, a Republican congresswoman from Katonah, New York, accused the pair of "bureaucratic rubber stamping." Allbaugh and Brown have also been criticized for their handling of the federal government's response to Hurricane Katrina. FEMA recently re-approved the evacuation plan for Indian Point, although Riverkeeper contends local residents and first responders question its effectiveness.
A test of the plant's alert sirens was held on September 13, 2006, with 154 of 156 sirens operating properly. Of the two failures--both in Rockland County--one siren sounded but did not rotate, and the other experienced a transmitter failure. Entergy is replacing the current sirens with a $10 million high-tech warning system, scheduled for early-2007.
Some industry groups have said that shutting Indian Point would put a severe strain on New York City's electrical supply. On February 23, 2007, Greenpeace co-founder Patrick Moore wrote an opinion piece in the New York Post in favor of keeping Indian Point open, saying: "I strongly support renewal of the license for the Indian Point nuclear plants in Westchester, which provides 30 percent or so of the electricity used in the New York metro area."[4]
[edit] Media coverage
- HBO has aired a documentary surrounding the controversy called Indian Point: Imagining The Unimaginable. [1] It first aired on September 9th, 2004, and was directed by Rory Kennedy.
[edit] Fire
- A fire occurred in a nonnuclear part of the building on April 6th, 2007. There have been no reported injuries. A large column of smoke was reportedly seen coming from the plant.[5]
[edit] In literature
The book Night Siege, by Dr. J. Allen Hynek, details an infamous incident where UFOs flew over the plant and purports that a massive cover-up was done such as at Roswell in 1947. Many however, contend that there is no credible evidence of UFOs from extra-terrestrial locations.
[edit] References
- ^ Edwin S. Lyman, PhD. "Chernobyl on the Hudson?: The Health and Economic Impacts of a Terrorist Attack at the Indian Point Nuclear Plant", Union of Concerned Scientists, September 2004.
- ^ Allen Lutins (January 23, 2006). U.S. Nuclear Accidents. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
- ^ Paul Thompson et al. (December 27, 2006). Complete 911 Timeline. Cooperative Research. Retrieved on December 29, 2006.
- ^ Patrick Moore. "Nuclear & Green: Indian Point An Enviro Plus", New York Post, February 23, 2007.
- ^ "Fire Breaks Out At Indian Fire Nuclear Plant", CBS News, April 6, 2007.
[edit] See also
- Pressurized water reactor
- Entergy Corporation
- Consolidated Edison Company of New York
- Nuclear and radiation accidents
[edit] External links
- DoE Page
- Indian Point Energy Center: Safe. Secure. Vital.
- Riverkeeper.org, Indian Point
- CLOSE INDIAN POINT
- Citizens Awareness Network
- Nuclear Information and Resource Service
- Union of Concerned Scientists
- Entergy Truth...Holding Them Accountable
- Fink On Entergy
- How secure are U.S. nuclear power plants? from Grist Magazine
- Indian Point Area Radiation Monitoring Alerts
