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LOWEY CALLS FOR HEARING AFTER INDIAN POINT ALERT

By JEFF SHIELDS

COPYRIGHT 2000 The Journal News. All rights reserved.

Publication date: 2/20/2000

Saying the public has an "absolute right to know," Rep. Nita Lowey called on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission yesterday to hold a public hearing immediately regarding last week's alert at the Indian Point nuclear generating station in Buchanan.

In an interview yesterday and in a Friday letter to the head of the NRC, Lowey, D-Harrison, demanded a public briefing by the agency within the next two weeks.

"In light of the radioactive discharges and recurring safety hazards at this facility, I request that you conduct a public meeting to provide information to citizens in the surrounding communities as soon as possible," Lowey wrote.

At Indian Point Tuesday night, a steam generator leaked radioactive water, prompting the 7:30 p.m. Level 2 Alert. Lowey joins a list of local officials calling for an intensive investigation. No one was injured, and the alert was lifted Wednesday afternoon.

The Westchester County Board of Legislators will hold a joint committee meeting at 9 a.m. Tuesday to discuss the incident with officials from Consolidated Edison, which runs the plant, and others. Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi has also asked NRC officials to attend the town's Feb. 28 work session. The agency announced it would conduct a detailed investigation of the emergency by a seven-member inspection team. But the NRC will hold its public meeting only after the team of inspectors has finished its work, William Ruland, a branch chief for the Division of Reactor Safety, said yesterday.

"What's important to us is to make sure the information we provide is as accurate as possible," Ruland said. "And that's why we like to think about these things."

The NRC has said the inspection could take several weeks and will culminate with a public hearing in which the agency will present its results to Con Edison.

In a letter to NRC Chairman Richard Meserve on Friday, Lowey, D-Harrison, said she expected a "thorough examination" of the Indian Point 2 steam generators.

Ruland said Lowey's request would probably be handled through the NRC's office of congressional affairs.

But Lowey said she expected a personal briefing immediately. "I don't want people to give me a brief based on insufficient evidence, but I certainly am not going to wait a couple of months," she said yesterday.

She also said the NRC could conduct a public briefing before and after the inspectors go into Indian Point 2.

"I think they can be done simultaneously," she said. "The public has a right to know what they are doing. They need to know basic information about the inspection. ... I think we have an absolute right to have a preliminary briefing."

Staff writers Barbara Livingston Nackman and Jessica Cohn contributed information for this report.

http://www.nyjournalnews.com/news/20jn8.sht

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 20, 2000

Answers

Dee ..... I believe the NRC will do what all federal employes do when confronted by " unexplainable " computer/human/design errors:

!. Delay, as the number one tactic ( this lets the sheeple herd ' graze ' off to another area of concern , and as they haven't seen a wolf in a few weeks , TPTB/press/ gov. can explain away the wolf as a mass hulicination , etc. ) .

2. Mutter ... talk about side related issues , and generally " muddy the water " .

3. Attack the people looking for the answers ... as hipercondriacts where nuclear power is concerned; point to there sterling (?) record; put us back to sleep with old stand-bys . like , " We will make this our number one priority in the future " ; " There are newer safety measures that will be taken in the near future so this can't " ever " happen again." And the time worn, but effective, " We're working on it ! "

4. Form a federal committee , which means a distant, future report , hopefully to come out on some other administrations watch , and the " Good 'ol boys " have all been reassigned/died/retired/ or moved and left no forwarding address ! ...

Live thirty miles ( as crow flies ) east of this time bomb , and I know from government nuclear war studies in the sixties , the wind blows west to east MOST OF THE TIME !!! Eagle ... circling the nest ; watching the west .

-- Hal Walker (e999eagle@FREEWWWEB.COM), February 21, 2000.

Hal,

Thank you for your analysis. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. Lots of folks LQQKing at this one.

-- Dee (T1Colt556@aol.com), February 21, 2000.

Sounds like Lowey is trying to make a name for herself by appearing to be squawking loudly (in front of her constituents .... of course.)

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Marietta, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), February 21, 2000.