• Blog
  • Indian Point Petition & Resolution / Indian Point Bibliography

Indian Point Petition & Resolution / Indian Point Bibliography

These measures should be put into place prior to the closing of the plant. Each measure is expensive but necessary. The idea is that the ground swell of public opinion, waking up the real dangers and risks, coupled with lawmakers requiring additional safe gaurds will show that this nuclear danger in our backyard is not financially viable. They listen to their wallets.

(Paraphrased from) IPSEC's Resolution by Marilyn Elie

We will all be safer when Indian Point is decommissioned. Until that happens, here are some actions that need to be taken immediately. 

  • Harden the spent fuel pool building which is now ordinary commercial construction.
  • Construct containment over the 1,000 tons of spent fuel that has been racked tightly in the pool. 
  • Add independent electricity and cooling back up for the spent fuel pools.
  • Arrange for independent inspection of the inflatable gasket around the cavity in the spent fuel pool.
  • Move spent fuel rods to dry cask storage as rapidly as possible.
  • Address the flaws in the current 10 mile evacuation zone, as outlined in the official 2003 Review of Emergency Preparedness at Indian Point and Millstone by former head of FEMA, James Lee Witt.
  • Extend the evacuation zone to 50 miles as was recommended by the US government for Americans in Japan.

Answers to all your questions will likely be found in these articles:

Indian Point Bibliography

Need a quick reference for how much electricity we get from Indian Point?
Here is a one page Q&A that can answer some questions. http://spoonsenergymatters.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/qa-entergys-local-presence/

How many megawatts does Indian Point contribute to our grid?
 You see many different figures but few sources back up their calculations. Indian Point contributes about 5% of the electricity distributed by Con Ed. Read Leaving Gotham Behind for the details. http://spoonsenergymatters.wordpress.com/2010/12/05/entergy-leaving-gotham-behind/

Curious about how our electricity is distributed?
Read Explosion Forces Shutdown at Indian Point. http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/science-updates/explosion-forces-shut-down-at-indian-point-nuclear-plant

What effect does Indian Point have on the aquatic environment?
What is the difference between closed cycle cooling and cooling towers?  What about Wedgwire?  For details read http://spoonsenergymatters.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/cooling-the-waters-taking-the-heat/

Entergy, the multi billion dollar corporation that owns Indian Point,
may be having financial trouble in the Northeast.  For more info read http://spoonsenergymatters.wordpress.com/2010/11/15/reversal-of-fortune-entergy%E2%80%99s-humbling-nuclear-venture/

Is Indian Point earthquake proof?  
The plant was designed to withstand a 5.2 earthquake according to the NRC.  Read the details at http://spoonsenergymatters.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/america%E2%80%99s-quake-proof-nukes/

On 3/29 the House of Representatives held a hearing on America's nuclear power in light of Fukushima.Spent fuel pools emerged as a priority.  See the complete hearing at http://www.c-spanvideo.org/program/NuclearEv

On 3/30/11 The Senate held a hearing on American nuclear power in light of Fukushima.  The testimony of David Lochbaum of the Union of Concerned Scientists on spent fuel pools is stunning.  Most American reactors have no back up electricity for the spent fuel pools.  David Lochbaum of UCS stated, “The industry treats spent fuel as benign. It is not.  It stores the rods in buildings similar to the sheds you buy at Sears.” Watch the entire hearing at http://cspan.org/Events/Nuclear-Regulators-Give-Update-on-Crisis-in-Japan/10737420576-1/

What do other countries do with their nuclear waste?  
Russia dumps it into the Artic Sea.  France stores it plutonium and counts it as a assets on its accounting ledger.  Finland is building a geological depository that will be a work in progress for generations. The chilling film about Finland’s depository for high level rad waste, Into Eternity, was recently released in the US.  See a clip and learn more at http://www.intoeternitythemovie.com/


April 18, 2011

Marilyn Elie
Westchester Citizens Awareness Network