Shutting Down the Power Plan….

The Indian Point nuclear plant in Buchanan, N.Y., has been a major source of power to New York City and its northern suburbs since the first reactor went into operation in 1962. But the plant, which is now owned by Entergy, has encountered a string of accidents and mishaps since its beginnings, and has appeared on the federal list of the nation’s worst nuclear power plants.

Entergy Corp., the owners of Indian Point, argue that it is safe, built to withstand a magnitude six earthquake, which is far greater than any predicted earthquakes in the region. Entergy Corp. is asking the Nuclear Regulator Commission (NRC) to renew the power plant license for another 20 years of operation, as Indian Point’s Unit Two and Unit Three licenses will expire in 2013 and 2015, respectively.

Clearwater and the DEC are supporting the re-evaluation in hope that Indian Point will be closed and de-commissioned. There are health and environmental effects, though minute compared to those in Japan, which result from the leaking of radioactive material. In 2010, for instance, the New York DEC charged Entergy Corp. with killing almost a billion fish — some of which are on the endangered species list — by polluting the Hudson River as it circulated water. Although the threat of a large- scale nuclear disaster is more evident now, there always has been and always will be the lingering possibility that something will go very wrong.

Some argue that the pros of nuclear power far out-weigh the cons.

As nuclear power plants produce around 20 percent of the energy in the U.S., something has to be done with the resulting waste. Hot, radioactive fuel rods that are no longer powerful enough to be used by the plants after a few years are stored in pools that cool down the rods and protect the environmentfrom radioactivity. Where do they go from there?

While the debate continues, nuclear power is not something many will give up on when combating climate change, although the obvious answer would be to invest in safer types of renewable energy. It is not reason to turn back towards fossil fuels; there are consequences either way.

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