A.G. wins federal ruling on Indian Point

New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has won a federal ruling in ongoing efforts to improve Indian Point's accident preparedness.

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board issued a decision, agreeing with New York that Indian Point, located near Peekskill, cannot be re-licenced without completing the legally-required analyses of its severe accident mitigation measures. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) must require Indian Pointís owner, Entergy, to either adopt cost-effective upgrades that would improve responses and control the impact of a severe accident, or provide a compelling reason why it will not do so.

"Severe accidents cannot be treated as impossibilities, and this critical ruling confirms that Indian Point must follow regulations to protect the public and control the effects of a potentially severe nuclear accident," Attorney General Schneiderman said. 
"We will not permit the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy to procrastinate or limit the relicensing review..."

As part of the relicensing proceeding, nuclear power plants are required to identify the environmental impacts that could be caused by a severe accident and provide analyses of upgrades that could protect the public if one were to occur. 

The measures include improvements in equipment, training or procedures. In its environmental review, Entergy identified 20 such measures at Indian Point Units 2 and 3, including flood protection and auxiliary power improvements.

However, the NRC did not require Entergy to complete analyses of those measures, or to require that the measures be adopted, thereby violating NRC's own regulations, as well as those of two laws. Despite an obligation to conduct a full review, both Entergy and the NRC sought to limit the severe accident analyses to a narrow set of components.

The ruling marks the first successful motion of its kind filed by an intervenor in such a proceeding. It is the attorney general's latest success raising such issues. Earlier, the NRC accepted New York's petition for fire safety enforcement at Indian Point.

In February, Schneiderman sued the NRC for authorizing the storage of radioactive waste at nuclear power facilities for at least 60 years after they close - without first conducting the necessary environmental, public health and safety studies.