Indian Point Health Risks Article

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Indian Point puts public health at grave risk

 

 

By JOSEPH J. MANGANO

First published in print: Tuesday, November 10, 2009

A major battle over the future of New York's energy policy is being fought

at Indian Point, 75 miles south of Albany. The battle is not just about

energy, but public health.

 

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Indian Point is the site of two large nuclear reactors operating since the

mid-1970s. Because Indian Point's federal licenses will expire in several

years, Entergy Nuclear of Jackson, Miss., which owns the reactors, has

asked federal regulators to extend them for another 20 years.

The proposal has drawn fire from New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo,

and from environmental groups. A total of 10 organizations have filed legal

papers opposing the 20-year extension. If they are successful, Indian Point

will close permanently.

But if they do not succeed, Indian Point will continue to operate for a

long time. And there will be serious threats to public health.

The most ominous threat is that of a meltdown. Indian Point stores nuclear

waste in deep pools of constantly cooled water, equal to hundreds of

Hiroshima bombs. Loss of cooling water, from sabotage or accident, would heat

this waste to dangerous levels, causing a release into the environment. In an

area where 21 million people live within 50 miles of the plant, safe

evacuation would be impossible, and many thousands would suffer from acute

radiation poisoning or cancer.

Aging and corroding reactor parts make the chances of another Chernobyl

more possible. A recent report found five near miss meltdowns from mechanical

problems at Indian Point from 1999-2004 – the fourth most of any U.S.

nuclear plant. And a terrorist act against a nuclear plant remains a constant

threat. On 9/11, one of the hijacked planes flew directly over Indian Point

on its way to the World Trade Center.

But a meltdown may not be needed for Indian Point to harm the people who

live near it. Like all reactors, they must routinely release some of the

radioactive and cancer-causing chemicals they generate into local air and

water. There are more than 100 such chemicals, including Strontium-90,

Iodine-131, and Cesium-137 -- the same as in fallout after atomic bomb tests

years

ago.

The three New York counties with the highest rates of thyroid cancer --

Rockland, Putnam and Orange -- all are situated within 20 miles of Indian

Point. Particles of radioactive iodine, created only in bomb tests and

reactors, attack the thyroid gland, leading to cancer. Scientists have found a

high risk of thyroid cancer after exposure to the Hiroshima/Nagasaki bombs,

Chernobyl accident and Nevada atomic bomb tests. There are no other known

causes of thyroid cancer.

Any decision on the future of Indian Point should be based not just on

energy needs and costs, but on public health interests. Decades after being

introduced, nuclear power still poses health risks. Future risks are even

greater, since reactors are aging and huge amounts of waste are building up. A

sound energy policy should focus on safe sources, such as wind and solar

power. Federal regulators should not allow a threat to the health of

millions to operate for 20 more years.

Joseph J. Mangano is executive director of the Radiation and Public Health

Project, a research and education organization based in New York.

 

 

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