Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition
INDIAN POINT SAFE ENERGY COALITION
IPSECINFO.ORG
888-I-SHUT-IT
LAST TUESDAY, women clustered outside of Grand Central Station. "Are you prepared?" they called out to passersby, who glanced at their pink dresses and accoutrements with bemusement. CODEPINK, a women-initiated grassroots peace and creative direct-action organization, belongs to the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC). While CODEPINK was handing out postcards in Manhattan, other members of IPSEC were doing the same at the Joint News Center at Westchester County Airport, where they observed part of a mock evacuation of Indian Point that Entergy, the nuclear power plant's owner, was conducting.
You don't need a disaster-scenario fetish or an anxiety disorder to see that Indian Point's existence is cause for concern. Right now, 21 million people live within a 50-mile radius of Indian Point. In 1979, Robert Ryan, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff member, called the plant, located a mere 37 miles north of New York City, "one of the most inappropriate sites in existence."
IPSEC believes that Indian Point is a disaster waiting to happen, one that would dwarf 9/11 in scale and scope. The coalition, which formed in the fall of 2001, comprises more than 50 organizations, including the environmental group Riverkeeper and the New York Public Interest Group. IPSEC's goal, according to Riverkeeper's campaign director and senior policy analyst Kyle Rabin, is "to permanently retire Indian Point, ensure a safe and orderly decommissioning process and safeguard the spent fuel." Until then, the coalition's three-point focus is emergency preparedness, security and plant safety. So far, "Close Indian Point" resolutions have been passed by 45 municipalities and 13 community boards, and 310 elected and public officials in the tri-state region support the plant's shutdown.
When I asked Larry Gottlieb, director of communications for Entergy, which grosses about $2 million a day from Indian Point, if the plant were prepared for an emergency, whether earthquake, meltdown or terrorist attack, his answer was quick: "Absolutely." He claims Indian Point is safe as houses: "A 360-degree mushroom cloud can't happen." Nearby stockpiles of chlorine, or even a hurricane, make for far greater cause for concern than Indian Point, according to Gottlieb, who advised that people "put aside nonsense from the internet" and look at the "realistic health consequences" of an emergency at Indian Point: "Only a two- to three-mile radius around Indian Point would be affected, and outside that the health affects would drop precipitously." Gottlieb pointed to Tuesday's evacuation drill as proof of Indian Point's preparedness.
IPSEC calls that drill a "dupe."
"For years we've called for them to incorporate terrorism scenarios in their drills," said Mark Jacobs, an IPSEC spokesperson. "We've asked them to simulate a situation in which a large amount of radiation, having been released quickly, would necessitate a large-scale evacuation. Tuesday's exercise, in which a plane crashed into a transformer adjacent to the reactors, did nothing of the kind. What's more, it ended at 4 p.m. sharp, with no resolution to the situation. Everyone just went home."
The front of the postcards distributed last Tuesday depicts a woman, two children and a dog in ponchos and masks. The reverse explains: "In the event of a meltdown, an earthquake, terrorist attack or other radiological emergency you will need the following Personal Protective Equipment " The list includes a respirator, goggles, rain poncho, rubber gloves and galoshes, as well as potassium iodide tablets to protect the thyroid from absorbing radioactive iodine.
Gottlieb called the cards "ridiculous" and "disingenuous," saying that people would need to listen to authorities, who would know exactly what kind of radiation had been released, for precise instructions. What Gottlieb didn't mention is that there's no safe threshold when it comes to radiation exposure. And radioactive waste from Indian Point, which Riverkeeper claims regularly leaks into the air, water and soil, is a threat to nearby communities whether or not a disaster scenario ever plays out.
Entergy is expected to apply for new 20-year licenses for Indian Point 2 and 3, whose licences expire in 2013 and 2015 respectively. Some note that since, until recently, Indian Point 2 had the worst safety record among the nation's 103 commercial reactors; that it's located on the Ramapo fault line and hasn't undergone a recent seismic hazard analysis; and that the NRC has cited Indian Point 2 for more severe safety violations than any other plantperhaps a 20-year license extension isn't the best idea. City Council member James Gennaro has sponsored Resolution 266, which calls for Indian Point's immediate closure (but is under revision); IPSEC asks that New Yorkers call their City Council representative and urge them to support it. o