Free Republic

<p>Twenty-five years ago this week, something went horribly wrong at Three Mile Island. Those very words are now synonymous with nuclear meltdown, but back then they merely referred to an obscure nuclear plant in central Pennsylvania. Human error and mechanical failure conspired to send the temperature in the reactor core soaring, threatening a blast of deadly radiation. All of America watched in apprehension. Politicians and regulators bickered, and the media whipped up a frenzy.</p>

A national women's organization is calling on Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) to get involved in fight to close IP. The New York chapter of CODEPINK gathered outside Senator Clinton's New York City office Monday, trying to get her to take a stance on the issue of closing Indian Point. The group handed out pamphlets and asked residents to sign a letter that urges Senator Clinton to return a $2,000 campaign contribution she received from Entergy, the company that owns and operates Indian Point. Senator Clinton has called for stricter security at the plants but has never publicly voiced her opinion...

<p>That, at least, is what labor leaders (along with Indian Point's old scaremongering foes) hoped folks would think.</p> <p>"Elected officials should be very concerned that Entergy [the plant's owner] is playing Russian roulette with public safety," union flack Steve Mangione warned. "No matter what they say, they cannot guarantee the safe operation or the security of Indian Point" if it remained open during a strike.</p>

The environment and the issues that surround it are never less than extremely important. In the case of environmental safety and health, we know that coal- and fossil-burning power plants in black and Latin communities have been held responsible for the high numbers of children who suffer from respiratory diseases. Given those facts, it seems odd that there is now a conflict between advocates for black communities and environmentalists over the presence of nuclear plants and the uses of nuclear energy right here in New York. One side tells us that the nuclear power plant in Indian Point should be...

(10/19/03) YORKTOWN HEIGHTS - Protesting continues against the operation of Westchester's nuclear power plants in Buchanan. A walk-a-thon to protest the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant was held Sunday at FDR State Park in Yorktown Heights, just off Crompond Road, near the Taconic Parkway. Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition members held a rally there, highlighting what they call "an unworkable evacuation plan" for the people of Westchester if there is ever an accidental release of radiation at the plant. About 50 people showed up at FDR State park. The protestors are walking a three-mile loop around the park because they...

(03/07/03) WHITE PLAINS - A member of al-Qaida is reportedly living right here in Westchester and is being sought by the FBI. The FBI has not confirmed whether or not the information seized by the September 11th mastermind Khalid Shayk Mohammed is true. The information reportedly states that three suspected terrorists are living in the New York area. A laptop computer, a cell phone and an address book taken from Mohammed's hideout in Pakistan may have produced new leads that terrorists who may be in New York City or in Westchester remain focused on more destruction, specifically plotting to attack...

<p>ANTI-NUCLEAR activist group Riverkeeper has been in the news recently with fresh accusations regarding the Indian Point Energy Center. The only consistency from their side of the debate has been a major distortion of facts and attempts at unjustified scare tactics. Perhaps most glaring is Riverkeeper's recent claim that closing the two plants at Indian Point would be in support of New York's economy and the safety of its residents. As New Yorkers were reminded on Aug. 14, a blackout is devastating to the local economy and presents a wide range of potentially harmful situations.</p>

<p>Where exactly does Gov. Pataki stand on the issue of the Indian Point nuclear power plant? Does he want it shut down, as local activists demand?</p> <p>Or does he understand the need to keep it open - to ensure an adequate supply of electricity for businesses and homes?</p>

A private security force "successfully protected" the Indian Point nuclear plants against mock intruders during last month's secretive drills, according to the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. In a letter to several New York officials, dated Aug. 7 and made public yesterday, Chairman Nils Diaz said he was satisfied after watching two days of a "force-on-force" exercise. "The licensee has a strong defensive strategy and capability," Diaz wrote. "The Indian Point security force personnel successfully protected the plant from repeated mock-adversary attacks." Entergy Nuclear Northeast, owner of the twin nuclear plants 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan, said the...

(1010 WINS) (WASHINGTON) Federal officials will recertify emergency plans for the area around the Indian Point nuclear power station, effectively overriding opposition from local officials who felt evacuation procedures wouldn't protect residents from radiation in a terrorist attack. The Federal Emergency Management Agency is expected to announce the decision as early as Friday afternoon, said government sources, speaking to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The decision caps months of standoffs and negotiations among local, state, and federal authorities over terrorism concerns surrounding the plant in Buchanan, N.Y., 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan. Executives in the four counties...

Rudolph W. Giuliani, the former New York City mayor, visited Westchester County today to speak on behalf of one of his new clients, Entergy Nuclear Northeast, as it prepares for an antiterrorism drill at its Indian Point nuclear power complex. The visit was part of an elaborate presentation by Entergy that blended the thrills of a summer action picture — an M-16 semiautomatic rifle firing blanks at an Indian Point security officer — and Mr. Giuliani's star power. It seemed designed to take back some of the attention that has lately focused on Entergy's critics, who have attacked the nuclear...

Entergy Corp., the second-largest U.S. nuclear-power generator, is facing new opposition to its Buchanan, New York, plant: Paul Tudor Jones and other hedge-fund managers are joining environmentalists who want the facility closed. Sept. 11 showed the threat of a terrorist attack on the Indian Point reactors is too great, given their location near 20 million people in the New York City region, Jones said in a speech this week before analysts and investors a block from the World Trade Center site. The plant should be shut within five years, said Jones, who manages $8 billion. Financial support from hedge-fund managers...

In an attempt to close what they called "glaring loopholes," two assemblymen from Westchester County yesterday proposed that private security guards at New York State's nuclear power plants be allowed to carry automatic weapons. It was the second measure introduced in the Legislature this week to bolster security at six active nuclear reactors being operated at four sites around the state. Earlier this week, State Senator James W. Wright, a Republican of Watertown, introduced a bill to grant private security guards who patrol nuclear and electric generating plants peace officer status, allowing them to carry automatic weapons and make arrests....

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Congress will hold hearings into the contentious emergency evacuation plan for Indian Point, the nuclear power plant just north of New York City. Rep. Sue Kelly, a Republican whose district includes the Westchester County facility, had pushed for a hearing on the issue after a consultant firm found Indian Point's emergency plans rely on outdated technology and are based on unrealistic expectations. Fears about the plant have escalated sharply since the terror attacks of Sept. 11. A House subcommittee overseeing emergency management will conduct hearings in the near future, Washington, D.C., officials said Thursday. Kelly said she...

NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION Office of Public Affairs, Region I 475 Allendale Road, King of Prussia, Pa. 19406 No. I-03-005 February 12, 2003 CONTACT: Diane Screnci (610) 337-5330 Neil A. Sheehan (610) 337-5331 E-mail: opa1@nrc.gov NOTE TO EDITORS: Given the high interest in the Emergency Preparedness situation at the Indian Point and Millstone nuclear power plants, the attached letter on the subject, from Chairman Richard A. Meserve of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Sen. Hillary R. Clinton, is being provided. February 12, 2003 The Honorable Hillary Rodham Clinton United States Senate Washington, D.C. 20510 Dear Senator Clinton: I...

KI will be made available to residents within the 10-mile radius of Indian Point on three days in June Westchester County will begin distributing potassium iodide, known as KI, on Saturday, June 8 in the first of three days set aside to distribute the pills for use in a radiological emergency. Residents who live within a 10-mile radius of the Indian Point nuclear power plant can receive one free pill per person at any one of the dates and locations listed below. This free, public distribution is part of a comprehensive KI policy, which includes the distribution and stockpiling of...