INDIAN POINT

I will entertain any safe and fiscally sound plan to re-open this plant.

Let's be clear - Gov Cuomo, NY and Westchester Democrats and Riverkeeper have fought to close Indian Point Energy Center spending millions of dollars in courts over years. They closed down an energy facility plant that provided over two thousand megawatts of carbon free energy, destroyed thousands of good paying union jobs and crippled the tax base of the local communities. The fear right now is that Holtec is about to pump gallons upon gallons of radioactive water from the pools where the spent fuel assemblies are stored into the Hudson. Well why wasn’t anyone asking questions?

Here are the options.

Store it on site - very dangerous. And if they hold it in tanks for the next 24 years, which is what the Cortlandt Town Supervisor is recommending, we will be exposed to radioactive release every day of those 24 years. There will need to be more than one tank - probably 100.They are all prone to leaking. All of the tanks will need to be vented. That means everyone within a mile of the plant will be exposed that much longer. Evaporation is 300-700 times more dangerous than water release.

Ship it out to Idaho. Not an option. It is illegal to ship liquid radioactive material.

Discharge it into the ocean from barges - unless close to US shore, International Law prohibits this.

Release into Hudson - It has been done like this for the life of the plant; however, no one wants this in our backyard. These pools that house the rods have been emptied before. It was done in 2008. Radioactive material is closely monitored and has always been less than 1% of what is allowed. Testing on fish and the river bottom has shown no accumulation of radioactive material since 1962.

The closure of Indian Point was a turning point for Westchester — and it’s a perfect example of why our county needs legislators who ask the right questions. (Pause)

When Indian Point closed, very few asked the simple but crucial questions: Where will our energy come from? How much will it cost our residents? (Pause) The result has been skyrocketing energy bills and uncertainty for families and businesses across the county.

I will entertain any fiscally sound, safe plan to re-open Indian Point. Westchester deserves energy security, responsible environmental stewardship, and protection for jobs and families. Decisions about Indian Point must be guided by science, common sense, and concern for the public — not by ideology or politics.

FYI

Indian Point is in my backyard and my husband worked there from 1988-2021.

The Hudson River has truly come a long way but it is being threatened on many fronts. Let's be clear - Gov Cuomo, NY and Westchester Democrats and Riverkeeper have fought to close Indian Point Energy Center spending millions of dollars in courts over years. They closed down an energy facility plant that provided over two thousand megawatts of carbon free energy, destroyed thousands of good paying union jobs and crippled the tax base of the local communities. The fear right now is that Holtec is about to pump millions of gallons of radioactive water from the pools where the spent fuel assemblies are stored into the Hudson. They did not consider any of the consequences of this all of the years they fought to close this plant.

FACTS:

First - the water history

When the plant was running...Here is a simplified explanation of the "reactor coolant system (RCS)". There are 3 RCS loops in the Indian Point Westinghouse Pressurized Water Reactors (PWR). The first loop, or primary water used in the reactor coolant system, is circulated through the reactor, then through steam generator tube bundles and back to the reactor by the Reactor Coolant Pumps (RCP). This water doesn’t boil because it is under high pressure and is used to boil the secondary water. The water in the secondary loop is circulated into the steamed generator secondary sides where it contacts the tube bundle and flashes to steam. This steam is used to spin the turbines which turn the generator which is where the power was made. Then this steam is exhausted into the condenser where it turns back to water called condensate water and the cycle continues. The third loop is the water from the Hudson River that cools the condenser tubes and is cycled back into the river. Unless there is a leak, those three loops never intermingle. That's not to say that radioactivity does not remain in pumps and valves, but this is on the primary side of the plant which the Hudson River water NEVER comes in contact with.This is different from the water in the pool where the used fuel assemblies are stored. That water has been in the pool for over 50 years. This is the water we are talking about right now. This water is still being filtered and the water going into the Hudson is below any limitations set as acceptable. The containment domes have had a 30 foot by 30 foot hole cut for access but the dust was eliminated by water suppression. Therefore, no dust is circulating from the containment domes, and will not for about 10-12 years. According to the agreement signed by state, county and local elected officials, the dust must be contained to the property line.

Testing

They have always had a SPDES (State Pollutant Discharge Elimination  System) permit which was required to operate so every requirement would have been met.  All water into the Hudson River is monitored, even the ground water. The permit requires that water discharged into the river is monitored 24/7.  A report goes out maybe quarterly to NYS, Army Corps of Eng and the NRC.  This will not end because the plant has closed.

OPTIONS TO GET RID OF WATER FROM THE POOLS - None of them are good. More are being considered.

Store it on site - very dangerous. And if they hold it in tanks for the next 24 years, which is what the Cortlandt Town Supervisor is recommending, we will be exposed to radioactive release every day of those 24 years. There will need to be more than one tank - probably 100.They are all prone to leaking. All of the tanks will need to be vented. That means everyone within a mile of the plant will be exposed that much longer. Evaporation is 300-700 times more dangerous than water release.

Ship it out to Idaho. Not an option. It is illegal to ship liquid radioactive material.

Discharge it into the ocean from barges - unless close to US shore, International Law prohibits this.

Release into Hudson - It has been done like this for the life of the plant; however, no one wants this in our backyard. These pools that house the rods have been emptied before. It was done in 2008. Radioactive material is closely monitored and has always been less than 1% of what is allowed. Testing on fish and the river bottom has shown no accumulation of radioactive material since 1962.