FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                 May 7, 2003                        

Contact:  Kym Spell, 212-473-0051

Governor Pataki Breaks Silence on Indian Point But Continues to Avoid Taking Stand  

Plant Opponents Address His “Concerns”

New York – After months of ducking reporters’ questions and stonewalling Indian Point opponents, Governor George Pataki broke his silence and talked in the most specific terms to date about the future of the nuclear reactors at Indian Point.  While he stopped short of siding with the plant’s owners, Entergy, in wanting to keep the nuclear facility operating, Pataki did echo some of the same arguments which have come from Entergy corporate headquarters in the past.

Pataki promised voters during the campaign he would stand by the findings of the Witt Report in deciding whether to keep the plant open but instead ignored the results which found the emergency plan inadequate to protect the public.  Since then, he has avoided taking a position on closure while New Yorkers face increased threats from terrorists.  Meanwhile, the out-of-state owners of Indian Point continue to defend the besieged plant which was recently shut down and offline due to an automatic shutdown at Unit 2 triggered by a local power outage and a fire at Unit 3.

Pataki’s exclusive interview on the subject was granted to Westchester’s News 12 during their “Newsmakers” segment on March 22 and 23 which is not seen statewide.  Since few people outside of News 12’s viewing area had the opportunity to see the Governor’s interview, the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC) believes New Yorkers ought to know where their governor stands on this important issue. (Accordingly, the full transcript of the interview can be found at www.riverkeeper.org.)   

“We call on Governor Pataki to face his responsibility for the safety and well-being of his constituents,” says Lisa Rainwater van Suntum, coordinator for the Coalition’s 58 civic, professional and environmental organizations whose membership represents tens of thousands of New York State residents.   “The Indian Point reactors are a major threat to millions of New Yorkers, and the only way to remove the threat is to close the plants.”

The following are excerpts from the interview where Pataki lists his “concerns.”  IPSEC offers the actual facts which should eliminate the Governor’s concerns, allowing him to reevaluate his position and issue a strong public statement for all New Yorkers to hear.

Pataki:  “…but my concern is that if it is decommissioned and it will be decommissioned it is just a question of when  that happens, the risk is still there.  The risk of the spent fuel rods, the risk of the years it will take to actually deactivate the reactor itself. 

Fact:  A plant that is closed is no longer producing the highly radioactive irradiated “spent” fuel rods, which are most dangerous in the first six months upon removal from the reactor.   After the reactors are shut down, many of the short-lived fission products decay away rapidly, leading to a reduction in the quantity of radionuclides that are available to be released in an accident or terrorist attack. According to an independent study by the Nuclear Control Institute, after only a shutdown of twenty days the number of acute fatalities (within a 10-mile radius) from a core meltdown and breach of containment could be reduced by 80 percent and the number of long-term cancer deaths (within a 50-mile radius) by 50 percent.  Transferring the fuel from the reactor’s core to the irradiated fuel pools can be done approximately a week after reactor shutdown.  Reactor shutdown must be coupled with the fortification of the wet and dry spent fuel storage technologies.  In addition, the irradiated fuel older than 5 years must be transferred into hardened dry cask storage and the remaining irradiated fuel in wet storage must be reconfigured to reduce the density of the currently jam-packed pools.  This is a process known as hardened on site storage.

Pataki: “We would have an enormous power difficulty in the short term that would create very real disruptions for the people of Westchester and New York City.”

Fact: Even if we shut down Indian Point tomorrow there would be adequate electricity generation and transmission capacity to power New York City, Westchester County, and New York State as a whole. In the short term, energy conservation and efficiency measures can be implemented to increase the buffer margin in place to ensure additional energy reliability. In the long term, proposed transmission lines and power plants already approved by the state, and in some cases under construction, will provide an even larger cushion.  The New York Independent System Operator currently predicts that peak demands in New York City will be just over 11,000 Megawatts (MW) during the summers of 2003 and 2004. Even if Indian Point were retired, New York City still would have more than 13,100 Megawatts (MW) of electric generating capacity and transmission import capacity available to meet these projected peak demands while providing adequate system reserves to meet unexpected plant outages or higher than normal summer temperatures. Replenishing the reserve margin with Indian Point offline is just a matter of political will and having the leadership from key state and federal officials.  The policy steps are well known, have worked elsewhere, and can be easily implemented.

Pataki: “Under any circumstance, I don't have the authority…(to shut down Indian Point)”

Fact: As the state’s highest elected official and a Republican with strong ties to the current administration, Pataki is in the best position to call for the shutdown of IP.  Never has a New York Governor admitted he is powerless to lobby the federal bureaucrats in Washington when it comes to protecting the lives of his constituents. Moreover, there are a number of concrete state-level steps the Governor can take to encourage the plant’s expedited closure.

Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC). IPSEC is a coalition of fifty-seven civic, environmental, health and public policy organizations that formed in response to a flood of citizen concerns about the safety of Indian Point nuclear power plants after the terrorist attacks on 9.11.01.  Our goal is to ensure the safety and security of our neighborhoods by bringing about the immediate closure of Indian Point and its safe and orderly decommissioning.   

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Transcript of an interview with Governor George Pataki

(Aired on March 22 and 23 - Westchester's News 12 “Newsmakers”)

Q:  One of the huge concerns, not just for Westchester but the entire tri-state region, that is the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant in our backyard.  As we talk today, yesterday, on Thursday, we heard about a possible threat to the Palo Verde Plant in Arizona.  It was later claimed that that was not a real threat but the concern for Indian Point, and we are looking at it now from Chopper 12, the concern is so real for so many millions of New Yorkers, can you assure people today that that plant is safe?

GEP:    It is a very real concern and my view is that everything changed on September 11th and the procedure, the policies that were in place prior to September 11th no longer should apply.  We are in a different world when we know that people are among us that want to do us harm and we know that nuclear power plants are potential targets, whether it is the false threat in Arizona or other possible threats we have got to be proactive to protect the people of Westchester and of the entire region.  We changed everything the state can do after September 11th.  We now have, I can tell you we are doing everything in our power, we now have and have had for over a year, significant numbers of National Guard troops at Indian Point.  I am not going to give specific numbers, but then as the level of alert and concern rises we have dramatically expanded state police patrols on and off the site.  Just this week we had the New York Naval Militia Reserves in......and now we have them patrolling in the Hudson River on a ship with additional resources on that ship in addition to what the Coast Guard is doing so we are doing everything in or power including urging the NRC, the federal agency, to totally change the way they operate.  They totally change the way they license plants, they permit them, they provide for operations, I refused to certify the emergency evacuation plans because we didn't think they were adequate.  But there is one element that is missing and that is that I am concerned and I think the people of Westchester are, there is no threat, to specific target but we should all think ahead and be as proactive as possible about the airspace over Indian Point.  Right now the federal government has imposed a restricted airzone that includes Indian Point so that flying over Indian Point is dramatically restricted from what it was a week ago, but I believe there  should be a no-fly zone, an absolute prohibited no-fly zone over Indian Point and I talked and written to Governor Ridge about it and as I work with Governors Rowland and McGreevey to put all the three State Troopers on the trains, Governor Rowland and McGreevey had joined with me in sending a letter and contacting Governor Ridge and urging a no-fly zone over Indian Point.  We are going to continue to push and try to get that done.

Q:      The residents around Indian Point have told us that they would like to see the no-fly zone right now particularly in light of 9/11, you know we all have that picture of one of those planes flying right over Indian Point on 9/11 and obviously could have done some damage if it decided to go there, unfortunately it went to the World Trade Center.  Governor on that same note, Indian Point, as you mentioned, you refused to certify the evacuation plan, this plant would effect so many people, Connecticut's new Attorney General has called for the plant to be shut down, most other Westchester elected officials now are calling for it, there is concern in Long Island, there is concern over the entire tri-state area, is the answer to shut down this plant do you think?

GEP:    I think what we have to do is make safety the first priority and there is no question in my mind that until we have a no-fly zone and until we have enhance security measures both onsite and on the emergency evacuation plan that we are not doing enough and that the federal government has to either themselves or insist that the private owners of Indian Point take additional action, but my concern is that if it is decommissioned and it will be decommissioned it is just a question of when that happens, the risk is still there.  The risk of the stem two rods, the risk of the years it will take to actually deactivate the reactor itself.  We can't just throw a switch and say Indian Point is going to be safe, we have to look long-term because it will ultimately be decommissioned and we have to work aggressively now to bring in new sources of power.  We are actively looking to try to identify the sources so we can replace that lost power, but we have to right now change the way things are done to protect the people of Westchester.

Q:      Governor, we do hear that that plant really does provide a majority of the power for this area.  People don't realize that they can't just shut it down tomorrow despite the repercussions, is that the case?

GEP:    Under any circumstance, I don't have the authority, but if the federal government tomorrow said, "shut down the plant" the reactor would take years to decommission and to cool and the spent fuel rods which are a significant risk in and of themselves, would still be there.  We would have an enormous power difficulty in the short term that would create very real disruptions for the people of Westchester and New York City.  Our job is to identify those replacement sources and to work to get them in here as soon as possible.  Our job is also to do everything we can, as we are doing, with the National Guard and the Naval Militia and the State Police to provide as much security as possible and to push the federal officials to take the actions or direct energy to take the actions the way we believe must be taken.  I think there are steps that can be taken that haven't been required or energy to make that fight more secure and we are going to continue to push the federal government to do that.