“In response to Jerry Kremer’s July 30 letter, “Extra Indian Point review unnecessary,” it is worth noting that Indian Point is among the most scrutinized plants in the country because it has had more problems than others, including multiple and continuing unplanned releases of radioactivity, being the only plant in the U.S. that is known to be leaking strontium 90, cesium and other radioactive elements into the environment. The plant has had more unplanned outages than others, which resulted in a lowered safety rating. This plant also has an evacuation plan that was thoroughly studied by a former director of FEMA and declared to be inadequate and largely unfixable. And their efforts to install a workable siren system are like a long running soap opera. Indian Point is also built on top of a seismic fault.

And Mr. Kremer’s assessment of the relicensing review is a horrible joke since it includes only non-moving parts of the plant, such as the extensive and leaking pipe system, which is largely inaccessible to inspection because it is buried or imbedded in concrete. The only way the Nuclear Regulatory Commission can check the integrity of the pipes is by digging wells and saying “not leaking yet.” It is also worth noting that the existing leaks were found by accident during construction work and not because of the NRC’s presence at the plant.

Mr. Kremer should state that his organization has been founded and highly funded by Entergy. Paid spokesmen should be more forthright.

Gary Shaw

Croton-on-Hudson”

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