“WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — New York state is demanding “a full and open
investigation” into the discovery of radioactive water outside the
spent-fuel pool at the Indian Point 2 nuclear power plant.
James Tuffey, director of the state Emergency Management Office,
complained in a letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about not
being notified of the leak until Tuesday, “well after it was initially
discovered.”
“At a time when the public is expecting the highest level of
coordination between and among all levels of government and their
agencies, this failure to share and coordinate this information is
unacceptable,” he said.
The NRC and Entergy Nuclear Northeast, owner of the plant, disclosed
Tuesday that a small amount of slightly radioactive water had been found
in cracks on the buried outside wall of the pool that holds nuclear
waste at the Indian Point complex in Buchanan, 35 miles north of midtown
Manhattan. The NRC announced it was undertaking a “special inspection.”
Entergy spokesman Jim Steets said that while the water was first spotted
at the end of August, it was not until this week that tests confirmed it
was from the pool.
Other officials, including county executives Andrew Spano of Westchester
and C. Scott Vanderhoef of Rockland and Rep. Nita Lowey, also have
complained about the lack of notification.
Tuffey asked the NRC to send him copies of all its reports on the leak
and said that after consulting with Gov. George Pataki’s office, “I am
calling for a full and open investigation.”
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said notification of public officials was not
immediate because of the need to find out “the extent of the leakage and
its potential impact on the environment.”
“We’ve been following these issues as they developed and only recently
concluded that they warranted consideration for a special inspection,”
he said.”
IPSEC 