Congresswoman Sue Kelly Tuesday called for the prompt consideration and approval of legislation that she has co-introduced in Congress to require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to authorize an Independent Safety Assessment at Indian Point.
At the same time, members of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition were delivering petitions with 5,000 signatures to her Yorktown office, seeking her support for the bill. Group spokesman Mark Jacobs said it is important that Kelly and the other lawmakers in the region keep the heat on the issue so that an ISA is performed.
Kelly told her House colleagues that Indian Point “is an aging plant with a history of problems. An ISA is the best way to identify areas of weakness before they become serious issues.”
After the NRC responded to Kelly’s written request for an ISA by saying it could not commit to an ISA at Indian Point at this time, Kelly co-introduced legislation in March with Congressmen Hinchey, Engel, Lowey, and Shays that calls on the NRC to authorize an ISA at Indian Point.
Jacobs, meanwhile, said Kelly must drive her message home to her colleagues. “We need her to make public statements like that; statements in front of Congress like that, and we need her to make the political arrangements so that she can use her influence as a member of the majority party, as somebody who has a good relationship with our President, to make sure that independent inspections are completed.”
Kelly told the other House members that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission “needs to put the safety of the residents of New York’s Hudson Valley first.”
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