Senator Charles Schumer

757 Third Avenue, Suite 17-02

New York, NY 10017

Dear Senator Schumer:

I am writing to urge you to call for the immediate closure and orderly decommissioning of the Indian Point nuclear reactors located 24 miles north of the Bronx, 35 miles from midtown Manhattan , and 40 miles from Brooklyn .

This is not a place for a nuclear reactor:

·         Over 20 million people live within a 50-mile radius of the plants

·         Long before the tragic events of 9/11 and the tremendous population growth to the region, Nuclear Regulatory Commission Director of State Programs, Robert Ryan, commented in 1979, Indian Point is "one of the most inappropriate sites in existence" for a nuclear plant.

The National Academy of Sciences recently issued a report confirming that spent fuel pools are soft targets and vulnerable to terrorist attack.  Currently, 1500 tons of high-level radioactive waste are stored onsite at Indian Point.

Please join over 400 elected officials from the tri-state region, including 11 members of Congress, who have called for Indian Point’s shutdown. The plant’s unworkable emergency plan is one of their major concerns:  

• The only comprehensive and unbiased analysis of the Indian Point emergency evacuation plan, conducted by James Lee Witt Associate concluded that the plan is “inadequate to protect the public from an unacceptable dose of radiation.”
• There is no radiological evacuation plan for New York City

I am also writing to ask you to oppose Entergy’s expected request with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year license renewal of Indian Point 2 & 3, which would extend their licenses to 2033 and 2035, respectively. 

• Relicensing regulations do not consider the standards that would be required to site a new nuclear plant, such as current area demographics and roadway infrastructure.

For more information on the vulnerabilities of Indian Point, you may contact Riverkeeper (845.424.4149 or www.riverkeeper.org) or the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (888.474.8848 or www.ipsecinfo.org).  Both organizations are leading the way toward a safe, Indian Point-free New York metropolitan region.   

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

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