FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:    July 25, 2003   

For more information contact:

Lisa Rainwater van Suntum (212) 544-0045   

Mark Jacobs (914) 906-9974                                                                                                                      

Kyle Rabin (845) 424-4149 x 239

 COALITION DENOUNCES FEMA’S DECISION TO RE-CERTIFY

THE INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS’ EVACUATION PLAN

After months of deliberating, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has handed down their decision on the adequacy of Indian Point’s Radiological Emergency Preparedness Plan (REPP).  According to an AP report, FEMA has re-certified the plans that are supposed to protect over 300,000 residents living within the 10-mile radius of Indian Point.  This ruling callously disregards concerns held by county and state officials.

 WHITE PLAINS (July 25, 2003)  The Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC), a coalition of 58 citizen, environment, health, and public policy organizations, denounced FEMA’s ruling that the residents within the 10-mile radius of Indian Point can be protected by the current evacuation and sheltering plans for the nuclear power plants located in Buchanan, NY, just 22 miles from New York City. 

IPSEC project coordinator, Lisa Rainwater van Suntum, PhD, commented, “FEMA’s decision to re-certify the Indian Point Radiological Emergency Preparedness Plan (REPP) is an abdication of the agency’s legal responsibility to protect the public’s health and safety.  We are appalled at the gross recklessness of this Federal Agency.  If the local counties and first responders cannot give reasonable assurance that they can protect residents, and SEMO, recognizing the state’s “home rule” policy, stands behind this decision, how can FEMA rule against them?”

This ruling ignores the comprehensive evaluation conducted by James Lee Witt Associates for the State of New York at a cost of almost one million dollars and conducted over several months in the late summer and fall of 2002.  FEMA’s actions show that corporate profits and an extremely well-funded public relations campaign by the operators of Indian Point supercede long established rules and regulations, and contradict the findings of the most extensive and unbiased evaluation of Indian Point’s evacuation plan.   

James Lee Witt is the former director of FEMA and had responsibility for nuclear emergency planning for the entire country for eight years.  When hired by Governor George Pataki, Mr. Witt was specifically lauded for his nuclear emergency planning experiences at all levels of government.  The Witt Report states in no uncertain terms that the Indian Point REPP is “inadequate to protect the public from an unacceptable dose of radiation.”  The report continues that the plan inadequacies would be even worse if the radiation release were faster or larger than current design basis assumptions.  This is the type of scenario one could expect from a successful terrorist attack. Finally, James Lee Witt questioned whether certain aspects of emergency planning could even be improved enough to protect the public.

“The Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition is greatly disappointed and distressed by FEMA’s findings that fly in the face of compelling evidence.  Over 300,000 residents living within the 10-mile radius of Indian Point have been put in jeopardy by the Federal agency meant to protect residents. Entergy’s own traffic analysis just indicated that evacuation times have been greatly understated, which resulted in Westchester and Rockland County officials considering a sheltering strategy rather than even attempting evacuation. This is tantamount to admitting that the evacuation plan cannot work.  Residents cannot be expected to just stay put and hope for the best,” continued Rainwater van Suntum. 

IPSEC calls on FEMA to reverse their decision and withdraw certification, and IPSEC urges the NRC to immediately withdraw Entergy’s license to operate Indian Point.

It is the responsibility of the NRC to suspend operations until such time that the evacuation plan can be successfully implemented.  If a plan cannot be successfully implemented, under 10 CFR 50.47, the operating license must be withdrawn.  These steps are the legal and ethical responsibilities of FEMA and the NRC.  IPSEC expects that these responsibilities are met.  In the event that these agencies charged with protecting the public health and safety abdicate their responsibilities, it would be incumbent on the affected citizens and their government bodies and representatives to seek redress through other means.

BACKGROUND

The recognition that Indian Point could have been the terrorist target on 9-11 (one of the hijacked plans flew directly over Indian Point) and the President’s subsequent confirmation that the military found diagrams of US nuclear plants in al-Qaeda caves caused many people to reexamine the advisability of having two nuclear power plants and the highly radioactive waste they produce located in the most densely populated region of the United States.  Long before terrorism became such a compelling factor, the NRC mandated that all US nuclear plants had to have reliable evacuation plans to maintain their operating licenses.  The reason for this requirement is that nuclear plants can have accidents resulting in uncontrolled radiation releases, and the public must be able to evacuate to safety.  Terrorist concerns magnify this need.

IPSEC’s standing concern regarding Indian Point has been the ability to evacuate a large population in a short amount of time in the event of an emergency.  Prior reports had highlighted major inadequacies of the existing REPP.  The Witt Report confirmed those previous findings and expanded on the specific problems which include inadequacies of communications, inadequate equipment for first responders, lack of confidence in the plan by first responders, inadequacy of road infrastructure, as well as a limited knowledge of plan protocols by the public and high likelihood that much of the public will act instinctively as they believe to be in their best interests rather than what emergency officials order them to do.  This would be particularly true of parents who seek to reunite with their children rather than hope to catch up at an evacuation reception center. 

Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC). IPSEC is a coalition of fifty-eight 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.   For a list of member organizations, visit: www.IPSECinfo.org.          

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