WPCNR COUNTY CLARION-LEDGER. By John F. Bailey. March 21, 2011 UPDATED MARCH 23, 2011:
Jerry Nappi, spokesperson for Entergy upon new questioning March 23, by WPCNR clarified his comments to WPCNR last week about certain Indian Point sensitive structures being able to withstand an earthquake double 6.0 on the Richter Scale clarified his position.
Nappi said today the Indian Point facility was built to withstand an earthquake of 6.0 on the Richter, and that the key structures he was speaking of last week (Entergy has not identified the key structures) could whether an earthquake ten times 6.0 which would be an earthquake of 7.0. Nappi said the Entergy position is that an earthquake of 9.2 (the power of the Japan earthquake 12 days ago) is believed by Entergy not likely to happen in the metropolitan area.
The most powerful earthquake ever recorded is 9.5 on the Moment Magnitude Scale, the modern measuring standard comparable to the Richter Scale It occurred May 22, 1960, in Chile.
He also said the Nuclear Energy Institute, the trade organization representing operators of nuclear plants, would be studying nuclear plant earthquake resistance abilities nationally.
In a related development first reported on Westchester County’s leading public affairs program, WHITE PLAINS WEEK Friday evening, which can be seen at www.whiteplainsweek.com Jerry Nappi, spokesperson for Entergy told WPCNR that the trade association of operators of nuclear plants, the Nuclear Energy Institute would be undertaking a review of current operating plant construction and their structural integrity of their designs and ability to withstand earthquakes in the range of the one that struck Japan ten days ago causing catastrophic damage to nuclear facilities.
Regarding the position of spent fuel rod pools, the most affected parts of the stricken Japanese nuclear plant on the area of the Japan earthquake ten (now 12 )days ago, Nappi told WPCNR that spent fuel rods at Indian Point were stored underground, encased in concrete lined with a 1/4 inch steel barrier.
Asked how long it would take to close Indian Point, and remove radioactive spent fuel (called for by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo last week), Nappi said he did not have that answer.
Asked if the Indian Point relicensing processes, (one plant expires in 2013, the other 2015), would incorporate its structural ability to resist adequately a 9.0 earthquake, Nappi again could not answer, but the Nuclear Energy Institute study would address that.
Queried on how much it would cost the government, county or federal, to purchase Indian Point, for the purpose of shutting it down, Nappi did not have a figure. “I don’t see that happening,” he said.
In a news release Monday, The Westchester County Board of Legislators Committees on Environment & Energy and Public Safety announced it would host a series of informational meetings discussing disaster preparedness plans at the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, in light of the horrific events in Japan.
Committee Chairmen Legislator Michael B. Kaplowitz and Legislator Martin Rogowsky have invited officials from Entergy Corporation, the owners of the Indian Point Nuclear Plant, and all interested parties to come before the committee, so that accurate, factual data can be put on the record and made available to the public as soon as possible.
Yesterday, Entergy Corp released a statement saying that they will conduct a safety review of its ability to respond to catastrophic events at a New York nuclear power plant. This statement comes following a report that the plant was the most susceptible in the United States to a potential earthquake.
NOTE: That meeting can be viewed on the Legislature’s website at www.westchesterlegislators.com, Just press the BOARD VIDEO button, and click on the “Environment and Energy and Public Safety)” on the video list. Legislator Kaplowitz, as well as others, will be available for interviews after the meeting. A brief summary of the meeting is included above.
