On May 10 officials from Entergy Nuclear Northeast announced that concentrations of the radioactive isotope strontium-90 had been found on the plant's premises at concentrations ten times that allowed in drinking water. The leak had been traced to a storage pool for spent fuel rods from the long defunct Indian Point 1 power plant. Officials said they are now planning to retire the leaking pools by the end of 2007. Radioactive tritium, strontium-90 and less harmful isotopes have been detected since August of 2005. In December, a concentration of tritium at 30 times the level acceptable in drinking water was uncovered and on March 21 concentrations of strontium-90 were found in volumes three times the EPA drinking water limit. This is not the first time such leaks have been found at the plant, but they appear to be the most widespread. An official from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the Indian Point facility is the only plant in the country known to be leaking strontium at this time. Indian Point Energy Center's Manager of External Communications James Steets has assured the public that the leaks pose no public health threat and the plant's operators are doing everything possible to remedy the situation. Steets told Outlook Student Press that County, State and Federal officials have confirmed that the leaks pose no public health risk. Steets has stated publicly that the leak is not near any public drinking supply and is probably being dissolved into the Hudson River where it will dissipate into a harmless level of concentration. The leak had been detected within 50 yards of the Hudson. This has not satisfied most officials. Congressman Eliot Engel - D recently wrote a letter to the federal Environmental Protection Agency to conduct "an immediate investigation into the serious environmental problems" with the plant, specifically citing the leaks of strontium-90 and tritium. "These discoveries are only the latest in a list of environmental assaults on the region by the Indian Point Power Plant (sic)," Engel's letter said. "The safety of our constituents warrants an immediate and comprehensive investigation by the Environmental Protection Agency." Steets told Outlook that plant operators believe the strontium leaks could date back over 30 years. The old pool did not have newer safety features and is simply made of concrete, he said. Entergy Nuclear Northeast had been aware of the potential problems with the old pool and seeking remedy since buying the plant from Consolidated Edison in 2001. Their efforts have been sped up since discovering the leak, Steets said. The leak situation has caused alarm to area residents and officials and sprung a lawsuit from the environmental group Riverkeeper, which claims Entergy did not respond to the matter appropriately and failed to notify the Environmental Protection Agency. Entergy has dismissed the lawsuit as frivolous, claiming they have followed all appropriate procedures and they were not required by law to notify the EPA, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Riverkeeper is calling for the immediate closure of the plant due to a questionable safety record, the possibility of a terrorist attack and lack of evacuation plans. They claim their position is supported by over 400 elected officials, including 11 members of Congress, and a broad-based alliance of environmental, health, public policy, and civic groups united under the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition. Steets told Outlook that the Indian Point plants are "Two terrific, well run plants that employ 1,400 people who feel safe working there. They provide on average 33% of the energy for Westchester County and New York City." He also said threats of a terrorist attack were overrated, as in order to cause a major calamity, a terrorist would have to reach the reactor, which he believes is virtually impossible. He noted that a Chernobyl like disaster could never occur at any of the plants in the United States because they are of a totally different design. Chernobyl utilized highly flammable graphite as a regulator, whereas modern facilities use water. On April 26, Rockland Chairwoman of the Legislature Harriet Cornell - D responded to the leak, asking the NRC to provide data on Indian Point's radioactive leaks potential effects on small children. Cornell claims on her website to have sponsored legislation to close Indian Point since 1984 and led efforts to withhold certification of "unworkable evacuation plans." Representative Sue Kelly - R and Senator Hillary Clinton - D, are among several who have called for an independent evaluation of the safety of Indian Point. "There have been enough independent studies to close that plant twice," Assemblyman Richard Brodsky of Westchester County contends in a March 17 issue of the local Westchester newspaper Bedford Record Review. "The plant needs to be operating," said Representative Kelly in the same article. "If they shut down, then they don't know how the thing is operating. Also we need the electricity." "Mrs. Kelly is misinforming the public," said Mr. Brodsky. "We have more than sufficient power without the plant. Running Indian Point is more expensive, and it's dangerous. The plant should be permanently shut down."
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