1. Thank Senator Clinton for her commitment to forcing there to be a comprehensive, independent assessment of Indian Point. Thank her for her recognition that as the recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report showed, the NRC has shown itself not to be independent of the nuclear industry and therefore cannot conduct this inspection itself.
2. Ask her to make getting this legislation introduced and passed the highest priority, as it is an issue that is of the utmost importance to the potential of 1 20-year license extension, affecting the health and safety of the 21 million people who live within 50 miles of Indian Point.
The legislation:
To require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct an independent safety assessment of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant.
(Introduced in 109th Congress as S. 2488, died in committee, awaiting re-introduction in 110th Congress)
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
Senator Hillary Clinton introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
A BILL
To require the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to conduct an independent safety assessment of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Not later than 180 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission shall submit to Congress a report containing the results of--
(1) a focused, in-depth independent safety assessment of the design, construction, maintenance, and operational safety performance of the systems at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, Reactors 2 and 3, located in Westchester County, New York, including the systems described in section 2; and
(2) a comprehensive evaluation of the radiological emergency plan for the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, Reactors 2 and 3, conducted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Department of Homeland Security, which shall include--
(A) a detailed explanation of the factual basis on which the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency relied (during the period beginning on July 25, 2003, and ending on the date of enactment of this Act) in--
(i) approving the radiological emergency plan; and
(ii) making subsequent annual findings of reasonable assurance that the plan would adequately protect the public in the event of an emergency; and
(B) a detailed response to each of the criticisms of the radiological emergency plan contained in the Review of Emergency Preparedness of Areas Adjacent to Indian Point and Millstone, published by James Lee Witt Associates on January 10, 2003.
The systems referred to in section 1(1) are--
(1) the reactor protection system;
(2) the control room ventilation system and the containment ventilation system;
(3) the 4.16 kV electrical system;
(4) the condensate system; and
(5) the spent fuel storage system.
The independent safety assessment conducted at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant under this Act shall be equal in depth and breadth to the independent safety assessment of the Maine Yankee Nuclear Power Plant, located near Bath, Maine, conducted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during 1996.