NRC Rejects Nuclear Expert's Concerns on Pipeline Past Indian Point

Nuclear expert Paul Blanch’s arguments that the natural gas pipeline project past Indian Point needs further study has been rejected by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Petition Review Board.

The PRB concluded that the information Blanch and Rick Kuprewicz, a pipeline expert, presented and the issues they identified had been reviewed and resolved by the NRC staff.

Blanch, an engineer who has been a consultant and a critic of the nuclear industry for many years, sees the potential for a region-wide catastrophe if a rupture of the massive 42-inch gas pipeline were to occur just a few hundred feet from vital structures at Indian Point. He told the Petition Review Board that the NRC staff’s conclusion that the gas valves on the expanded Algonquin pipeline could be closed prior to major nuclear damage was based on flawed analysis.

“I would like to close by saying that we share your interest in ensuring that the Spectra Energy pipeline, if built, will not adversely affect the safe operation of the Indian Point power plant,” wrote Christopher G. Miller, Division of License Renewal, Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

NRC officials did promise to respond to the 39 points they made.

SEE:

• Pipeline Past Indian Point Topic of NRC Petition
• Indian Point Opponents, Supporters Speak

Blanch met last week with Chairman Stephen Burns, Commissioner Jeff Baren and Commissioner William Ostendorff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission headquarters in Rockville, Maryland to discuss the rejection of his petition and to personally show the Commissioners the improper calculations on which the approval was based, according to Stop the Algonquin Pipeline Expansion, a Westchester-based organization opposed to Spectra Energy’s plans.

“There are several precedents for independent risk assessments, including Millstone, Vermont Yankee and Cove Point, Maryland,” Blanch said in a prepared statement. “ The NRC must follow its own regulations to ensure that the plant operates safely and that all risks are fully analyzed. I urge the Chairman and Commissioners to formulate a plan to sanction an independent risk assessment that takes into account gas pipeline dynamics.”

PHOTO: Calculation used by NRC to confirm “no additional risk” from Spectra AIM pipeline to 20 million people in 50 mile radius of Indian Point Energy Center. (FOIA 2015-0189)/courtesy SAPE