NEW YORK – A nuclear power plant about 40 miles north of New York City must review the earthquake threat and other risks if it wants to operate for another 20 years, New York state’s attorney general said on Friday. “While the possibility of an intense earthquake is relatively low, the potential for harm is so catastrophic that it has to be taken into account,” New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told a news conference. The Indian Point plant, owned by Entergy Corp, is in Buchanan, New York, on the banks of the Hudson River.
An accident on the scale of what has occurred at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant would endanger 20 million people within a 50 mile radius, including 8 million in New York City. The 2,069 megawatt power plant supplies about one-third of New York City’s power. Entergy’s operating licenses for its two Indian Point reactors are due to expire in 2013 and 2015. A third reactor, Unit 1, was permanently shut down in 1974 because the emergency core cooling system did not meet regulatory requirements. Unit 1, the first of three units at the site, was built by Consolidated Edison, and began operating in September 1962.
The plant has been controversial for decades because of its proximity to New York City, the most densely populated major city in the United States. Although the region does not typically have strong earthquakes, Indian Point is situated near two fault lines. A long time critic of the plant, Schneiderman said the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission should not relicense Indian Point without a comprehensive seismic study and health and safety risk assessment.
He said he was prepared to take legal action to make sure this was done. “We have to do everything we can to protect the health, safety and environment of the 20 million people living near Indian Point,” he said. The worst nuclear power accident in US history occurred in 1979 at Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania when the core started melting.