Opponents Call For Closure Of Indian Point Plant After Latest Incident
BUCHANAN, N.Y. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- One of the two nuclear reactors at Indian Point nuclear power plant will remain shut down for the next couple of days following a power loss over the weekend.
No radiation was released into the environment when control rods lost power at the Indian Point 2 reactor on Saturday.
Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi said the nuclear reactor shut down safely as it is designed to do.
"The circuit breaker opened up appropriately in response to a fan on the non-nuclear side of the plant," Nappi told WCBS 880's Sean Adams. "Indian Point 2 had been online for 620 days continuously, that's a remarkable record of reliability."
The plant's other reactor, Indian Point 3, remained running.
A spokeswoman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said an inspector for the agency was at the site Sunday monitoring Entergy's activities to understand the cause and make any needed repairs.
Opponents of the plant said Indian Point should close for good, pointing to a handful of mishaps this year including a transformer fire and water pump problem.
"At 40-years-old Indian Point is just too dangerous, too old and near too many people," Hudson Riverkeeper Paul Gallay said.
Indian Point reactors 2 and 3 are up for relicensing. The two reactors supply about one-fourth of the power for New York City and Westchester County.
Entergy said they are safe.
"Indian Point receives the top safety ratings from the independent inspectors at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission," Nappi said.
But Gov. Andrew Cuomo believes the risk is simply too great and has called for closing down the plant.
The shutdown was unrelated to a power outage in Orange County, New York, and Pike County, Pennsylvania, on Saturday night that affected about 52,000 homes.
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