Nuclear Regulatory Commission in Westchester This Week

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is in Westchester this week.

It has notified Entergy that it will send a special inspection team to Indian Point. That visit is connected to the recent transformer explosion, fire and spill at the nuclear power plants in Montrose, which are owned by Entergy.

It has also scheduled its annual public meeting to discuss the agency’s assessment of safety performance at Indian Point—that starts at 7 p.m. May 20 at the Westchester Marriot in Tarrytown.

Company officials said:

Following activation of the fire-fighting sprinkler system during the transformer fire, operators identified a small amount of water on a floor, and were prepared to take steps to mitigate it prior to the water quickly receding. As specified by the NRC, “none of the electrical equipment became wet or experienced any damage or failures as a result of the water” and all equipment operated as designed to safely shut down the plant.

By design, a small amount of water from the fire protection sprinkler system flows to a floor drain inside this building. Due to multiple sprinkler systems activating for this event, the water did not drain as quickly as expected. Entergy engineers continue investigating the issue in order to thoroughly understand the source of the water and will continue to work with the NRC to take any appropriate action.

Entergy has invested more than $1 billion into equipment to strengthen and enhance safety over the last 10 years, and are committed to making any necessary enhancements to add additional layers of protection to an already safe plant.

Opponents of expansion plans for the Alqonquin natural gas pipeline, which runs next to Indian Point on its way from Pennsylvania to Canada, plan to speak at the Wednesday meeting about their safety concerns. They argue that the siting of the pipeline close to vital structures at the aging Indian Point nuclear facility poses a dire threat to 20 million people who live in the New York City metropolitan area.

According to Paul Blanch, a nuclear expert who plans to speak at the meeting, “the NRC’s safety analysis [of the pipeline expansion] is based upon false, inaccurate, and unsupported information.”