ML090700187

Comment (45) E-mail Regarding Iplr Dseis

ML090700187
Person / Time
Site:	Indian Point
Issue date:	03/10/2009
From:	Public Commenter Public Commenter
To:	Division of License Renewal
NRC/NRR/DLR
References
73FR80440
Download: ML090700187 (3)

Text

IPRenewalCEmails From: gcarmody@ramapo.edu Sent: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 5:53 PM To: Andrew Stuyvenberg Cc: medelste@ramapo.edu

Subject:

Comments on DSEIS--Indian Point Nuclear Power Facility Attachments: Env. Ass.--Comments on DSEIS.doc 1

Federal Register Notice: 73FR80440 Comment Number: 45 Mail Envelope Properties (20090310175236.BDQ97544)

Subject:

Comments on DSEIS--Indian Point Nuclear Power Facility Sent Date: 3/10/2009 5:52:36 PM Received Date: 3/10/2009 5:52:42 PM From: gcarmody@ramapo.edu Created By: gcarmody@ramapo.edu Recipients:

"medelste@ramapo.edu" <medelste@ramapo.edu>

Tracking Status: None "Andrew Stuyvenberg" <Andrew.Stuyvenberg@nrc.gov>

Tracking Status: None Post Office: msg-1.mail.ramapo.edu Files Size Date & Time MESSAGE 2 3/10/2009 5:52:42 PM Env. Ass.--Comments on DSEIS.doc 23616 Options Priority: Standard Return Notification: No Reply Requested: No Sensitivity: Normal Expiration Date:

Recipients Received:

Comments on DSEIS Drew Stuyvenberg Project Manager U.S. Regulatory Commission andrew.stuyvenberg@nrc.gov Re: Application for license renewal at Indian Point As a student at Ramapo College of New Jersey in the environmental program, I have been evaluating the DSEIS for the re-licensing of Indian Point. When the EIS was generated in the late 1990s to begin the re-licensing process for Indian Point 2 and 3, there was no evaluation included in the document on the visual impacts the facility posed to the surrounding view shed. This includes the construction of the proposed cooling tower.

The Indian Point facility is visible from several different elevations and vantage points along the Hudson River Valley, posing different impacts to the communities of varying income and minority populations surrounding Indian Point. In 1975 a study was done by Grant R. Jones evaluating the visual impacts of various cooling tower options at Indian Point Nuclear Facility. This study looked at the visual impacts from the proposed cooling tower, including the height of the concrete structure and varying size and thickness of the moisture plume produced. Both of these elements can be impacted with changes in weather and wind patterns. The study concluded that the construction of a cooling tower at Indian Point would have an even greater adverse affect on the view shed than the facility itself already posses (Jones, Ady & Gray, 1979). The mayor of the Village of Buchanan also expressed his opposition of building the cooling towers at Indian Point, citing that the tower would cause a visual blight and airborne contamination from the moisture plume.

This study and other comments on the visual impacts of Indian Point were simply disregarded in both the late 1990s supplemental EIS and the generic EIS drafted in December of 2008. This document from Jones was site specific to the Indian Point facility, sponsored by the NRC and offered a credible visual impact assessment. Why was this left out of the EIS when the construction of a proposed cooling tower was an important issue?

Communities along the Hudson River Valley are affected differently by the visual impacts of the Indian Point Nuclear Facility. The DSEIS did not take into consideration the relationship between the visual impacts of Indian Point and certain levels of Environmental Justice. Communities with drastically different levels of income and minority populations have varying perceptions of what the Indian Point facility symbolizes to their community. An assessment of the disparity between these views and what affect it has on the license renewal process for Indian Point was not considered by the NRC for the DSEIS. I feel that including a thorough assessment of the visual impacts posed by Indian Point and the construction of cooling tower should be included in future EIS.

--Greg Carmody

References:

Jones, G, Ady, J, & Gray, B Evolution of a Visual Impact Model to Evaluate Nuclear Plant Siting and Design Option1. Submitted to the National Conference on Applied Techniques for Analysis and Management of the Visual Resource, Retrieved March 10th, 2009, from http://www.jonesandjones.com/news/publications_pdf/jones_gray_burnham.pdf