Indian Point Nuke Plant Going Gone?

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NY State Denies Key Permit to Entergy Corp for its Indian Point Nuke Plant

Entergy Corp has been denied a request for a water-quality certification for its Indian Point nuclear power plant in New York, without which it cannot operate the  plant.

Indian Point nuclear plant seen from across the Hudson River.

Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC) is a three-unit nuclear power plant (unit one was shut down in 1974) located in Buchanan, New York.  The plant is situated on the east bank of the Hudson River, 50km (31 miles) north of Manhattan. Owned and operated by Entergy Corp, the plant provides about a third of electricity for the New York metro area.

The state regulators said that the plant’s cooling systems “do not and will not comply with existing New York State water quality standards.” The denial took into account a proposal for modification made by Entergy.

The ruling said Indian Point’s two operating units consume about 3.5 trillion liters (915 billion  gallons) of water each year destroying 1 billion fish and fish eggs, including the endangered shortnose sturgeon, thus violating state laws and the federal Clean Water Act.

An endangered species, the shortnose sturgeon (Acipenser brevirostrum) is a small North American sturgeon which live  in about a dozen or so large river and estuary systems along the North American Atlantic seaboard. They spawn in fresh water, making Hudson River an ideal habitat, where the largest adult population of about 30 – 40,000 are found.  “Sucked in with enormous volumes of water, battered against the sides of pipes and heated by steam, the small fry of the aquatic world are being sacrificed in large numbers each year to the cooling systems of power plants around the country.”

The president of environmental group Riverkeeper, Alex Matthiessen, said the ruling was a turning point in efforts to stop Indian Point’s “environmental assault on the Hudson River and force the plant’s early retirement due to the risks its continued operation poses to public health and safety.” Reuters reported.

“We’re disappointed in the notice of denial, but we expect to have an opportunity to convince the DEC it made a mistake,” Entergy spokesman Jim Steets said, adding that  the company has 30 days to request a public hearing, and that it will appeal the decision by the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Related Links:

• Fish, Fish Eggs Holocaust
• Indian Power Workers Drink Radioactive Water
• Three Mile Island Cats Have 9 Lives, Too?
• French Nuke Waste Plagues Siberia
• Q. How Can You Tell When Ecosystem Nears Collapse?