ML12258A277
| ML12258A277 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Indian Point  |
| Issue date: | 09/12/2012 |
| From: | Parker D - No Known Affiliation |
| To: | NRC/SECY/RAS |
| SECY RAS | |
| References | |
| 50-247-LR, 50-286-LR, RAS E-907, ASLBP 07-858-03-LR-BD01 | |
| Download: ML12258A277 (1) | |
Text
Docket, HearingE From:
Deborah Parker [firstplanetarian@hotmail.com]
Sent:
Wednesday, September 12, 2012 9:47 PM To:
Docket, Hearing; Siarnacki, Anne
Subject:
Please Close Indian Point Please do not re-license Entergy's Indian Point nuclear power generating facility in Buchanan, NY.
I agree with Riverkeeperthat all the reasons below are sufficient to justify closing the two aging and unreliable reactors that are only a mile from my home.
I work for the County government, and have first-hand knowledge of the impracticality of the existing, or indeed, of any possible, evacuation plan. These plans would be laughable if it were not a deadly serious issue.
I live in an area dotted with those blue evacuation bus stop signs: imagine you and your loved ones, wherever you are when the siren sounds, finding your (probably individual) way to the nearest stop. Supposing that an insanely dedicated work force of drivers has left their own loved ones, and whatever they otherwise needed to do to escape, and picked up a bus, and driven (toward radioactive exposure) on one of the numerous evacuation routes to pick up passengers at these stops.
Now what: how long do you stand there? How many buses make pickups at your stop? Answer (from authority): one.
Has the bus already passed? There's NO WAY to know. It's preposterous, and we spend real money pretending it's reasonable.
So here is the summary of flaws, in order of importance to me:
An "unworkable" evacuation plan. After extensive study, James Lee Witt, the former head of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, flatly declared Indian Point's evacuation plans "unworkable." What's more, the evacuation plans cover just a 10-mile radius around the plant, when fallout could easily spread 50 miles or more.
More than 1 billion dead fish and other organisms, killed by Indian Point's cooling water intakes every year.
Indian Point uses more than 2.5 billion gallons of water per day, sucking river life in with the water. Clean water laws require the use of the best available technology to reduce the environmental damage, but Indian Point's owners have refused - for decades - to upgrade to modern technology. The slaughter helps explain why 10 of 13 signature Hudson River species are in decline.
We don't need Indian Point's power. A 2011 study commissioned by Riverkeeper and NRDC found that without Indian Point, the region would have a surplus of power through 2020, and could replace Indian Point many times over with investments in renewable energy, efficiency and transmission. The cost would be as little as $1-$5 per month for the typical homeowner.
More than 1,500 tons of radioactive waste stored in unfortified containers on the banks of the Hudson River at Indian Point. If the two nuclear reactors operate for another 20 years, Entergy would add another 1,000 tons of nuclear waste to containers New York State has described as "vulnerable to attack." What's more, carcinogenic radioisotopes from the plants have been leaking into the Hudson River since at least the early 1990s.
More than 20 million Americans at risk. A disaster here on the scale of the meltdown at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant would endanger millions in and around New York City and the Hudson Valley. The economy of the country, and indeed the world, could be shaken by such a catastrophe.
I urge you to do the right thing, and close this facility down. Thank you for considering these comments.
Deborah Parker 103 Old Bay St Peekskill NY 10566