Subject: RELEASE: Senator Clinton Calls on Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Address Continuing Safety, Security and Emergency Preparedness Problems at Indian Point
From: "Clinton, Press Office (Clinton)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 21 Dec 2007 13:29:37 -0500

For Immediate Release

December 21, 2007

Contact:  Press Office

202-224-2243

 

SENATOR CLINTON CALLS ON NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION TO ADDRESS
CONTINUING SAFETY, SECURITY AND EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PROBLEMS AT
INDIAN POINT

Cites Concerns with Failure to Install Adequate Emergency Siren System
and Coming Move to Dry Cask Storage

Washington, DC - Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton today called on the
Chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to address
continuing problems at Indian Point with safety, security and emergency
preparedness.  In a letter to Chairman Klein, Senator Clinton
highlighted in particular two issues that exemplify the concerns: the
failure of Entergy to install an adequate new emergency siren system and
the coming move to dry cask storage of spent fuel at Indian Point.

"The continuing drumbeat of problems at Indian Point has undermined
public confidence in both Entergy and the NRC.  How the siren and dry
cask storage issues are handled in the coming months will send a signal
to the public about whether there is a renewed commitment to public
safety by federal regulators and the plant's owners.  I urge the NRC to
use this opportunity to demonstrate a new seriousness about getting it
right at Indian Point," Senator Clinton wrote.

Senator Clinton has worked to push both the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission (NRC) and Entergy to improve safety, security and emergency
preparedness at the plant, including the siren system. Senator Clinton
added a provision to the energy bill in 2005 to require Entergy to
install a new siren system with battery backup in response to repeated
failures of the Indian Point siren system due to a lack of backup power.
That provision was signed into law in August of 2005, and the NRC set a
January 2007 deadline for having the system operational. Entergy applied
for and received an extension of the deadline to April 15th, and
subsequently missed the deadline. NRC fined Entergy $130,000 and Senator
Clinton announced that she would sponsor Senate companion legislation
<http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=274453&&>  to
a bill to be sponsored in the U.S. House by Congresswoman Nita Lowey
(D-Westchester/Rockland) and Congressman John Hall (D-Hudson Valley),
that would steer fines levied by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for
safety violations to counties surrounding nuclear facilities in order to
assist them with emergency planning (see -
http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=274453&&)

Earlier this year, Senator Clinton announced that she would be asking
the DHS inspector general to evaluate why Entergy has failed to meet
established deadlines to achieve operability of a new alert and
notification system for the Indian Point nuclear power plant (see -
http://clinton.senate.gov/news/statements/details.cfm?id=281505&&).
Senator Clinton has also continued to call for the NRC to conduct an
Independent Safety Assessment (ISA) at Indian Point and has introduced
legislation to require an ISA at the plant.

The following is the text of Senator Clinton's letter to NRC Chairman
Klein:

Dr. Dale E. Klein

Chairman

Nuclear Regulatory Commission

Washington, D.C. 20555

Dear Chairman Klein:

I have worked hard over the last six years to push both the Nuclear
Regulatory Commission (NRC) and Entergy to improve safety, security and
emergency preparedness at Indian Point.  While improvements have been
made, problems persist at the plant.  At the same time, new issues and
challenges continue to emerge.  I write today regarding two issues that
exemplify these two types of concerns: the failure of Entergy to install
an adequate new emergency siren system; and the coming move to dry cask
storage of spent fuel at Indian Point.

I am extremely dismayed about the continued failure of Entergy to put a
siren system in place that meets the requirements of the Energy Policy
Act of 2005, and the related Nuclear Regulatory Commission orders.  We
will soon reach the one year anniversary of the date by which the new
siren system with backup power was supposed to be in place.  When that
original deadline approached, Entergy applied for and received an
extension of the deadline to April 15th of 2007.  Entergy subsequently
missed that extended deadline, and was fined $130,000 by the NRC.  Since
that time, Entergy and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)
have been in talks to discuss how the new siren system can be modified
to meet the applicable requirements.  In my view, it is time for the NRC
to become more involved in order to drive these talks to a conclusion,
and then to use its enforcement tools to force Entergy to devote the
resources that are required to achieve the long-delayed goal of having a
new siren system in place that complies with the law and enhances public
safety.  

In addition, I note that Entergy will soon move spent fuel rods from
pools at Indian Point to dry cask storage on site.  This action will
have benefits; in particular, it will enable Indian Point to empty the
spent fuel pool that has been leaking water contaminated with strontium
90 into the environment.  At the same time, any action involving spent
fuel presents potential hazards and security risks.  With these risks in
mind, I urge you to take whatever measures are required to ensure that
Entergy puts public safety and security first during this new phase of
operations at Indian Point.  

The continuing drumbeat of problems at Indian Point has undermined
public confidence in both Entergy and the NRC.  How the siren and dry
cask storage issues are handled in the coming months will send a signal
to the public about whether there is a renewed commitment to public
safety by federal regulators and the plant's owners.  I urge the NRC to
use this opportunity to demonstrate a new seriousness about getting it
right at Indian Point.  

Sincerely yours,

Hillary Rodham Clinton