With President Bush's signature and Congress' November 19th approval of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 2004 (H.R. 2754), the $1 million secured by Congresswoman Lowey for a study that will examine alternatives to Indian Point has become official.Below, Riverkeeper's Nov. 20th statement regarding the Nov. 19th congressional approval.
For Release: Immediate November 20, 2003
Contact: Kyle Rabin 845.424.4149 ext. 239
Riverkeeper Applauds Congresswoman Nita Lowey for Her Leadership in Securing Federal Funding for a Study that Will Examine Energy Alternatives to Indian Point
With the writing already on the wall, the NAS can put an end to Entergy's exaggerations
Statement from Alex Matthiessen, executive director of Riverkeeper regarding the November 18th passage of the Congressional conference report for the FY 2004 Energy and Water Appropriations bill, which includes $1 million in federal funds secured by Congresswoman Nita M. Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) to study energy options and alternatives to meet the region's electricity demands with the Indian Point nuclear power plant permanently closed:
"Congresswoman Lowey's brilliant leadership has been absolutely crucial in confronting the bureaucracies of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency and making the case that we can live without Indian Point's electricity. Congresswoman Lowey's success in securing this funding is a tremendous step forward in the effort to permanently close this dangerous facility. The wide support that Congresswoman Lowey's initiative has received from her colleagues in Washington should send a powerful message to the Entergy Corporation that Indian Point's days are numbered. We strongly applaud her efforts in protecting New Yorkers from the threat to public health and safety posed by Indian Point. This is a huge triumph for the 20 million people that reside and work in the shadow of Indian Point and put up with the day-in-and-day-out threat of a catastrophic nuclear accident at Indian Point. Riverkeeper is confident that the study performed by the National Academy of Sciences will be objective and conclude, as other independent research has shown, that energy demands for the metropolitan region can be met with Indian Point permanently offline. A balanced study will examine the important roles that energy efficiency/conservation, renewable energy projects, clean distributed/onsite generation, plant re-powerings and improvements to our transmission system can play in ensuring energy reliability in a world without Indian Point. The facts are clear that we can live without Indian Point's electricity. With the writing already on the wall, the study conducted by NAS can put an end to Entergy's exaggerations that the sky will fall if Indian Point were to be closed." Given that Indian Point may be forced to shutdown due to safety, security or economic reasons, the NAS study together with Westchester County's energy study (spearheaded by County Executive Spano and County Legislator Kaplowitz), will provide assurance that we can live without Indian Point. In a matter that relates to both plant safety and reliability, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has launched a special inspection of Entergy's Indian Point plant to assess why there have been so many unplanned shutdowns and electrical system disturbances at both reactor units - 9 outages between Dec. 2001 to Aug. 2003. With an average of 3 shutdowns per reactor per year, as compared with the national average for the 103 operating reactors of less than one unplanned shutdown per reactor per year, Indian Point is neither safe nor reliable.
BACKGROUND: The study will be conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, and the funds are part of the Electricity Transmission Research Program at the Department of Energy.