Growing up in the Hudson Valley, I rarely thought about the nuclear power plant just a few towns away. But after the World Trade Center attack of 2001, suddenly everyone I knew was talking about the giant target-for-attack looming nearby.
“If Indian Point has a meltdown, the winds will carry fallout to us within half an hour,” my stepmom’s friend told me, aghast, before handing us an envelope with her plans in case terrorists attacked the plant. It included the best “escape routes” (seriously) for different places we might be at the time of the big attack. I was to keep them in the glove compartment of my car.
Rendezvous in Vermont (also seriously).
Of course, even if someone flew an airplane into Indian Point, a meltdown would have been unlikely. But the fate of the aging power plant has been debated ever since.
Entergy — Indian Point’s operator — is hoping to get the plant’s operating license renewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for another 20 years, but the NRC needs to see that Entergy is updating its aging structures.
When an underground pipe at Indian Point popped a steam leak, Eliot Engel and his colleagues from the Hudson Valley Congressional Delegation, were quick to note their overall disapproval of the state of the power plant.
From midhudsonnews.com:
Representatives Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey and Maurice Hinchey also chimed in about the safety of Indian Point. “This steam leak is another example of Indian Point being well past its prime, a 40 year old plant that was designed to last only 35 years,” said Engel.
Hudson Valley Congressional wants underground IP pipe replaced
Indian Point is a tricky issue for politicians. On the one hand, the plant employs almost 1,700 people and essentially has a strong safety record. On the other hand, every time the plant has an issue like the recent steam leak, it serves as a reminder to locals that they live near a facility that is capable of accidental catastrophe.
Clean, safe, affordable energy that scares the crap out of the people it serves.