There is no doubt that nuclear power plants have their advantages, mainly, large amounts of electricity. However, as we have seen with Fukushima and Chernobyl, the disadvantages outweigh the advantages. Indian Point Energy Center (IPEC) is a three-unit nuclear power plant station located in Buchanan, New York. It sits on the Hudson River 38 miles north of NYC and generates over 2,000 megawatts of electrical power, comprising as much as 30 percent of the electricity used in New York City and Westchester County (admittedly, i used this electricity everyday, either traveling to NYC or shopping in Westchester County).

While the plant generates power that can be used by millions, protestors of the plant are trying to get it shut down. According to Riverkeeper, “NY’s Clean Water Advocate”, IPEC should be shut down, “due to [it’s] vulnerability to terrorism, a laundry list of safety problems, the storage of 1500 tons of radioactive waste onsite, and the lack of a workable evacuation plan”. There is actually a 10-reason list available on their website that details why the plant should be shut down. These reasons include:

1) Indian Point is the most likely nuke plant in the nation to experience core damage due to an earthquake

2) A New York State report on the evacuation plan for Indian Point concluded that the plan is based on shaky assumptions and won’t protect the public in the event of a real emergency

3) New York City’s most important drinking water reservoir lies fifteen miles from Indian Point. Nine million people depend on the safety of that water supply every day

4) Nowhere to put Indian Point’s highly-radioactive spent fuel – IP’s storage pools are already overfilled with spent fuel rods from the last 40 years of operations.

While one group of people are trying to shit down the power plant, another group is trying to keep it open. According to the Indian Point Energy Center, the facility is “Safe. Secure. Vital”. The facility employees 1,100 people, pays out over $137 million in payroll every year to full-time employees, and donates $1.5 million to charitable organizations. Also, according to US Representative Nan Hayworth “Indian Point is run with an eye to safety and I am confident that it is an important source of power and of jobs for our area that we can feel confident is being run in a manner that is sound and consistent with our strict regulatory standards”.

Knowing what we have learned about nuclear energy, what is your side of the argument? Nuclear energy creates more power with less waste, can be safe if controlled the proper way, and at this point in time, hard to be replaced quickly and efficiently with cleaner energy solutions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Point_Energy_Center

http://www.riverkeeper.org/campaigns/stop-polluters/indian-point/

http://www.safesecurevital.com/

http://www.ipsecinfo.org/