AG: New Analysis Needed For Impact Of Potential Indian Point Power Plant Disaster
BUCHANAN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said federal safety regulators will need to conduct a new analysis into the effects of a devastating accident, should one ever happen at the Indian Point nuclear power plant.
AAs WCBS 880's Peter Haskell reported, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ruled Wednesday that regulators used the wrong data in an earlier analysis of the economic impact of a possible accident at the plant.
His office had appealed an earlier administrative ruling about the data. The board said the earlier analysis contained "material factual errors" that could be misleading.
Paul Gallay of Riverkeeper said the need for the new analysis bolsters his argument that the Indian Point should be closed.
"It's time to retire Indian Point," Gallay said. "Move to safer power."
But Jerry Nappi, a spokesman for plant operator Entergy, said it is more of a technical issue.
"It has to do with inputs into a computer model," he said. "We'll go back and we'll work at that model and work with the NRC staff."
The ruling comes as New York state officials challenge Indian Point's efforts to renew its federal licenses for two nuclear reactors.
Last month Entergy said that more than 2,000 bolts had been inspected when the Indian Point 2 reactor was shut down. Company officials said more than 200 of the bolts needed further analysis and that some of the bolts on the reactor's inner liner were missing.
In the wake of that news, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the plant's license should not be renewed.
"While there is no immediate danger to public health and safety, this troubling news further validates the State's ongoing investigation into the operations of this aging power plant and our position that it should not be relicensed," Cuomo said in a statement last month. "New York State will continue to investigate every facet of the plant's operations and safety preparedness while ensuring that these critical defects are addressed immediately."
In February, Cuomo called for an investigation after an apparent overflow at the plant spilled highly radioactive water into an underground monitoring well. Nuclear regulators said the public wasn't at risk.
In December, a reactor shut down at the plant following an electrical disturbance on outdoor high voltage transmission lines.
In a report to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission last month, the company said that automatic reactor shutdown on Dec. 14 was apparently from bird feces that caused an electric arc between wires on a feeder line at a transmission tower.
That outage in turn came just days after control rods lost power at the Indian Point 2 reactor, forcing it to shut down for three days. Following that incident, opponents of the plant said Indian Point should close for good, pointing to a handful of other mishaps last year, including a transformer fire and water pump problem.
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