Indian Point license renewal should have escape clause
By ALBERT BOUTROSS
(Original publication: August 16, 2007)
I understand that we are in a 60-day period for public comment before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission decides whether to approve Entergy Nuclear Northeast's application to extend the operating licenses for the nuclear power plants, Indian Point 2 and Indian Point 3, for 20 years.
Many people strongly object to the presence of Indian Point at Buchanan as a terrible disaster waiting to happen, such as happened in the Chernobyl nuclear facility in Russia years ago that claimed tens of thousands of lives over subsequent years. We have 50 million people in the disaster range, which speaks to the irresponsibility of locating these plants so close to New York City in the first place.
From years of debate on the subject, it has been revealed that the two megawatts of electric power generated by the Indian Point power plants cannot easily be replaced by alternate sources of electric power, such as gas-powered turbines. We need this level of power for our current lifestyle, such as air conditioning, which is essential. Therefore, the 60-day window we now have in which to speak up can be used to initiate planning the replacement energy source or sources.
Consequently, while it is obviously necessary to continue operation of Indian Point nuclear plants, what we need, in my opinion, is an "escape clause" in the renewal document that would permit work to proceed in researching and building the alternate sources in parallel with the operation of the plants. Then, at the appropriate time, the escape clause could be exercised so as to permit the gradual transition from the Indian Point nuclear facility to the alternate sources, as they become available.
If we wait for another 20 years to begin replacement, it likely will never get done.
I suggest that we plan to obtain the full two megawatts of replacement power from the power authorities surrounding the New York metropolitan area via the power grid, such as upstate New York, the states of New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland. This source is currently used when needed to provide backup, but I understand that it does not have two-kilo-megawatt capacity full time. However, by substantially upgrading the transmission lines of the power grid and its infrastructure, and by adding nuclear and other plants in more remote areas of the power grid, it would then be possible to supply the 2,000 megawatts on a permanent basis.
It should be noted that in this time when the safety of bridges has come under scrutiny, the current state of the power grid in America has also been rated "D" for "Sufficiency." The need for planning and investment in upgrading our infrastructure has become more urgent.
Aside from upgrading the power grid infrastructure, an additional major problem is the disposition of the spent fuel pool at Indian Point. The original plan to dispose of the fuel rods was to ship them to Nevada and bury them at Yucca Mountain. However, Nevada has expressed its displeasure over that part of the plan and prevents us from doing so.
The solution to the problem of the spent fuel rods, as I understand it, is to place them in oak casks lined with concrete in which they can safely remain indefinitely.
Therefore, I urge all responsible parties in government and industry to join together in an concerted effort to begin implementing a replacement plan. Why not this one?
The writer lives in Yorktown Heights.
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Dear Albert I like your ideas, especially the part about the " escape clause ". There was a very entertaining episode of " THE TWILIGHT ZONE" but I hope that has nothing to do with Indian Point. I doubt the members of PEON ( PRO ENTERGY and OPENLY NUCLEAR ) will go for your solutions. They already feel the plant works perfectly and see no reason for change. I have called for a much shorter license, say 5 years but PEON wants 20 or nothing! Be prepared Albert. PEON believes it's their way or the highway. The word "COMPROMISE" does not exist in their dictionary. I can just see their long winded response now. According to PEON, everybody is happy with Indian Point and NOBODY should dare criticize the way Entergy runs it. So sit back, and stand by for heavy rolls! Albert, thanks for your input. It was a breath of fresh air. .........................................PLUTONIUM IS FOREVER............................
Posted by: ball on Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:08 pm
Thursday, August 16, 2007
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
The challenge of storing irradiated fuel
The challenge of storing irradiated fuel
By Abby Luby
By Abby Luby
Some of the dry casks at Indian Point where spent fuel rods will be stored.
The Indian Point nuclear power plants in Buchanan will start storing radioactive fuel waste on site by late fall. Plant owner Entergy Nuclear Northeast expects to start “dry runs” in October, which will practice taking spent fuel assemblies from Unit One, the oldest unit that is purportedly the cause of numerous leaks of the irradiated groundwater.The plan includes putting the spent fuel in stainless steel casks now stored in the spent fuel pool and then transferring them to larger, fortified storage casks on a concrete pad on the north side of the site. Currently, over 1,500 tons of irradiated fuel is stored on site. But Entergy is running out of space for storage in their pools. They announced in 2003 their plan to store irradiated nuclear fuel in dry casks on the site by 2005.“We are just completing the road from the reactors to the pad,” said Entergy spokesman Jim Steets on a recent tour of the site with North County News. “We hope to have some practice runs in a few months.”
Dry casks on siteThe concrete pad covers roughly 18,000 square feet and is located on the Hudson River just behind a thin strand of trees. Construction of the pad required 2,100 yards, or 4,100 tons, of concrete. A drainage system has been installed with several collection basins. “This is so nothing flows down to the river,” said Steets. The pad is large enough to hold 78 casks. A newly installed crane several hundred feet high in Unit Two is poised to lift the fuel assemblies from the spent fuel pools and place them in the dry casks. The crane weighs about 110 tons. Installation costs to Entergy were about $8 million.Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said nuclear facilities have had a lot of experience using dry cask storage. “In the country there are 43 facilities in 28 states using dry cask storage,” he said. “An additional 14 reactors have just announced plans to also store spent fuel this way. With over 800 loaded dry casks in the country, we have a lot of experience.”
Security issuesTwo surveillance towers are posted at the corners to be manned at all times, said Steets.Entergy will be using the Holtec Hi-Storm 100 casks, large tubular concrete and lead casks that are 11 feet in diameter. Critics have said the casks are among the cheaper and least robust models, not designed to repel a September 11-type attack.“These casks are one of the least expensive models,” said Lisa Rainwater of the environmental group Riverkeeper. “The casks have been criticized by managers at Holtec itself.” Rainwater also said no one knew if the casks could withstand a terrorist attack, which is a major concern, considering the plant is located 25 miles north of New York City. “Entergy is storing high-level fuel on the banks of the Hudson River and on the Ramapo fault line. Surely a company that makes $3 million a day could have invested in the most expensive cask to protect 20 million people.”Security on protecting the casks from possible air or missile attacks is not for public knowledge, said Sheehan. “We wouldn’t get into those details, but our security reviews tell us it’s a safe method of storing the fuel.”Sheehan said after September 11, the NRC required power plants to make a number of physical changes addressing safety. “Different plants have complied in different ways,” he said. “We can’t share what a plant’s protective strategy is. But we believe the casks themselves are safe.”The casks will be stored without any cover or bunkers. Rainwater fears the casks could be attacked by air. “Riverkeeper and IPSEC [Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition] have raised concerns about the best way to store the casks,” she said. “They could be underground or protected against aircraft strikes by partial earthen berms to mitigate a possible air or missile attack. But this was dismissed years ago as unnecessary.”Rainwater added that Riverkeeper has long supported a dry cask method of storage as long as there is ample fortification.Waiting for Yucca Mountain RepositoryAccording to Steets, the on-site storage will be large enough to hold all the current irradiated fuel plus the spent fuel generated into the renewed license period beginning 2013. “But we can’t store fuel we produce for the entire time of the new license period,” he said. Over the next 20 years, the plant is expected to produce approximately 1,000 tons of additional irradiated fuel. Until a few years ago, the plan to store the nation's nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain Repository just 100 miles from Las Vegas seemed a certainty. The repository would store the radioactive waste underground from commercial nuclear-power plants, which takes centuries to decay.But concerns of how the high density waste would be shipped began to lessen the prospects of Yucca Mountain being a viable site. Locally, residents were concerned about possible accidents with the trucks carrying casks of spent fuel through towns and neighborhoods along Route 9 before reaching major highways.Yucca Mountain also became a politically charged environmental issue. Tests showed that Nevada’s desert ground wasn’t as impervious to water as initially thought. Sophisticated testing showed water percolating through Yucca Mountain’s underground caverns and then heading toward the Colorado River, providing drinking water for 16 million Californians. The Congressional battle to stall the completion of the repository could take decades.
An explanation of irradiated fuel and spent rods
The operation of nuclear reactors results in spent reactor fuel. The reprocessing of that spent fuel produces high-level radioactive waste. The fuel for most nuclear reactors consists of pellets of enriched uranium dioxide that are sealed in hundreds of metal rods, or fuel rods.
These rods are bundled together to form what is known as a "fuel assembly." As the nuclear reactor operates, uranium atoms fission (split apart) and release energy.
Over time, the build-up of neutron-absorbing poisons resulting from the chain reaction reduces the ability of the fuel to sustain an efficient chain reaction, and the rods become irradiated or “spent” and must be replaced.
Depending upon the type and size of the reactor, a fuel assembly can weigh up to 1,500 pounds.
Most spent fuel is stored in water pools at the reactor site where it was produced. The water removes leftover heat generated by the spent fuel and serves as a radiation shield to protect workers at the site.
The operation of nuclear reactors over the last 20 years has substantially added to the amount of radioactive waste in this country. By 2020, the total amount of spent fuel is expected to increase significantly.
The Indian Point nuclear power plants in Buchanan will start storing radioactive fuel waste on site by late fall. Plant owner Entergy Nuclear Northeast expects to start “dry runs” in October, which will practice taking spent fuel assemblies from Unit One, the oldest unit that is purportedly the cause of numerous leaks of the irradiated groundwater.The plan includes putting the spent fuel in stainless steel casks now stored in the spent fuel pool and then transferring them to larger, fortified storage casks on a concrete pad on the north side of the site. Currently, over 1,500 tons of irradiated fuel is stored on site. But Entergy is running out of space for storage in their pools. They announced in 2003 their plan to store irradiated nuclear fuel in dry casks on the site by 2005.“We are just completing the road from the reactors to the pad,” said Entergy spokesman Jim Steets on a recent tour of the site with North County News. “We hope to have some practice runs in a few months.”
Dry casks on siteThe concrete pad covers roughly 18,000 square feet and is located on the Hudson River just behind a thin strand of trees. Construction of the pad required 2,100 yards, or 4,100 tons, of concrete. A drainage system has been installed with several collection basins. “This is so nothing flows down to the river,” said Steets. The pad is large enough to hold 78 casks. A newly installed crane several hundred feet high in Unit Two is poised to lift the fuel assemblies from the spent fuel pools and place them in the dry casks. The crane weighs about 110 tons. Installation costs to Entergy were about $8 million.Neil Sheehan, spokesman for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said nuclear facilities have had a lot of experience using dry cask storage. “In the country there are 43 facilities in 28 states using dry cask storage,” he said. “An additional 14 reactors have just announced plans to also store spent fuel this way. With over 800 loaded dry casks in the country, we have a lot of experience.”
Security issuesTwo surveillance towers are posted at the corners to be manned at all times, said Steets.Entergy will be using the Holtec Hi-Storm 100 casks, large tubular concrete and lead casks that are 11 feet in diameter. Critics have said the casks are among the cheaper and least robust models, not designed to repel a September 11-type attack.“These casks are one of the least expensive models,” said Lisa Rainwater of the environmental group Riverkeeper. “The casks have been criticized by managers at Holtec itself.” Rainwater also said no one knew if the casks could withstand a terrorist attack, which is a major concern, considering the plant is located 25 miles north of New York City. “Entergy is storing high-level fuel on the banks of the Hudson River and on the Ramapo fault line. Surely a company that makes $3 million a day could have invested in the most expensive cask to protect 20 million people.”Security on protecting the casks from possible air or missile attacks is not for public knowledge, said Sheehan. “We wouldn’t get into those details, but our security reviews tell us it’s a safe method of storing the fuel.”Sheehan said after September 11, the NRC required power plants to make a number of physical changes addressing safety. “Different plants have complied in different ways,” he said. “We can’t share what a plant’s protective strategy is. But we believe the casks themselves are safe.”The casks will be stored without any cover or bunkers. Rainwater fears the casks could be attacked by air. “Riverkeeper and IPSEC [Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition] have raised concerns about the best way to store the casks,” she said. “They could be underground or protected against aircraft strikes by partial earthen berms to mitigate a possible air or missile attack. But this was dismissed years ago as unnecessary.”Rainwater added that Riverkeeper has long supported a dry cask method of storage as long as there is ample fortification.Waiting for Yucca Mountain RepositoryAccording to Steets, the on-site storage will be large enough to hold all the current irradiated fuel plus the spent fuel generated into the renewed license period beginning 2013. “But we can’t store fuel we produce for the entire time of the new license period,” he said. Over the next 20 years, the plant is expected to produce approximately 1,000 tons of additional irradiated fuel. Until a few years ago, the plan to store the nation's nuclear waste at the Yucca Mountain Repository just 100 miles from Las Vegas seemed a certainty. The repository would store the radioactive waste underground from commercial nuclear-power plants, which takes centuries to decay.But concerns of how the high density waste would be shipped began to lessen the prospects of Yucca Mountain being a viable site. Locally, residents were concerned about possible accidents with the trucks carrying casks of spent fuel through towns and neighborhoods along Route 9 before reaching major highways.Yucca Mountain also became a politically charged environmental issue. Tests showed that Nevada’s desert ground wasn’t as impervious to water as initially thought. Sophisticated testing showed water percolating through Yucca Mountain’s underground caverns and then heading toward the Colorado River, providing drinking water for 16 million Californians. The Congressional battle to stall the completion of the repository could take decades.
An explanation of irradiated fuel and spent rods
The operation of nuclear reactors results in spent reactor fuel. The reprocessing of that spent fuel produces high-level radioactive waste. The fuel for most nuclear reactors consists of pellets of enriched uranium dioxide that are sealed in hundreds of metal rods, or fuel rods.
These rods are bundled together to form what is known as a "fuel assembly." As the nuclear reactor operates, uranium atoms fission (split apart) and release energy.
Over time, the build-up of neutron-absorbing poisons resulting from the chain reaction reduces the ability of the fuel to sustain an efficient chain reaction, and the rods become irradiated or “spent” and must be replaced.
Depending upon the type and size of the reactor, a fuel assembly can weigh up to 1,500 pounds.
Most spent fuel is stored in water pools at the reactor site where it was produced. The water removes leftover heat generated by the spent fuel and serves as a radiation shield to protect workers at the site.
The operation of nuclear reactors over the last 20 years has substantially added to the amount of radioactive waste in this country. By 2020, the total amount of spent fuel is expected to increase significantly.
All sirens sound in latest Indian Point test
All sirens sound in latest Indian Point test
Buchanan – All 155 new sirens sounded Tuesday as Entergy works toward meeting its deadline of August 24th to turn on the new Indian Point warning system.
Company spokesman James Steets said that all of the sirens sounded when tested in the morning. Last weekend, 97 percent of the new sirens worked.
“This positions us well to put the system into service on August 24,” he said. “We still have some work to do on that score where we will be providing FEMA with some data that the sound of the sirens meets the regulations and meets all of our objectives.”
Steets said that some remaining issues must be resolved, but he is confident the new system will be fully operational on deadline day.
Buchanan – All 155 new sirens sounded Tuesday as Entergy works toward meeting its deadline of August 24th to turn on the new Indian Point warning system.
Company spokesman James Steets said that all of the sirens sounded when tested in the morning. Last weekend, 97 percent of the new sirens worked.
“This positions us well to put the system into service on August 24,” he said. “We still have some work to do on that score where we will be providing FEMA with some data that the sound of the sirens meets the regulations and meets all of our objectives.”
Steets said that some remaining issues must be resolved, but he is confident the new system will be fully operational on deadline day.
Indian Point siren test 100 percent successful; 10 days to iron out volume issues
Indian Point siren test 100 percent successful; 10 days to iron out volume issues
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 15, 2007)
BUCHANAN -Indian Point scored 100 yesterday on its latest emergency notification test, with all 155 sirens sounding in the four counties within 10 miles of the nuclear plants.
Now company officials have 10 days to prove that the system is as loud as it is reliable.
"It's definitely a favorable trend," Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said of yesterday's and Saturday's test, which reached 96 percent success. "However, there are still other steps that must be completed."
Chief among those will be presenting field-test data to the Federal Emergency Management Agency that proves that individual sirens are sounding loudly enough so residents can hear them above whatever noise is in the background.
Proving that to federal officials' satisfaction could take each of the 10 days remaining until the Aug. 24 deadline to have the $15 million system operational.
"It's getting incrementally better and we've come a long way since April, but I'm still extremely concerned about whether the sirens are loud enough," said Rebecca Thomson, FEMA's top official on the project. "We're hearing a lot of anecdotal evidence that they aren't."
Thomson said a FEMA contractor was in the field yesterday, taking acoustic readings at a number of locations, as was done during Saturday's test.
"That is for verification purposes," Thomson said. FEMA officials were also stationed at the county emergency centers in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties, and at the plants.
Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns and operates Indian Point, is putting together documentation of sound levels, which company officials hope will satisfy federal regulators.
Michael Slobedien, Entergy's top emergency preparedness official for the region, said the company's studies indicate the sirens have the necessary reach and should be able to provide adequate data for FEMA to make a decision.
"I think it's going to be a push to get it done by the deadline," Slobedien said. "It's a race and we're sprinting to the end. It's clearly a very powerful and capable system and should be put in place to serve the public."
Entergy agreed in late 2005 to replace the alert system by the end of the January of this year. The company received a 75-day extension from the NRC, but was fined $130,000 when it missed the second deadline on April 15.
NRC officials have not said what sanction might follow a third missed deadline, but more fines would be in the mix.
There are no more tests scheduled at this point and the final approval will be handled much more quietly via letters involving FEMA, the NRC and Entergy. FEMA has the final say on the approval, acting as an arm of the NRC.
As someone intimately involved in the two-year marathon, Anthony Sutton, Westchester's commissioner of emergency services, is eagerly awaiting an end.
"The testing is supposed to be done, the stage is set now," Sutton said. "A lot of people think we're hoping (Entergy fails). The last thing I want to do is engage in more testing. We've got a lot of other things to do."
Reach Greg Clary at 914-696-8566 or gclary@lohud.com.
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Entergy's Frank Phillips, who was running the siren tests, told us how he had called up 50,000 people the night before. It seems that audible outdoor alerting is not the only prong on the Entergy alert machine. Automated mass dialing, with a preset message was already used by Mr. Phillips, and he implied other methods were also being brought into play. (Cell phones..Text Messaging.... Email.... RSS alerts). But hooray for a 100% functional siren system. Now let's get past all the fluff issues, and fix those lousy roads, and that decrepit TZ bridge. We expect to need the sirens once in 280,000 years. We expect to drive those roads TWICE A DAY.
Posted by: VP_VP on Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:43 pm
IAEA Says Japanese Nuclear Plant Safety Features Held Up in Quake The International Atomic Energy Agency plans to issue a report on the effect of a serious earthquake last month on the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, concluding that "safety procedures" had "performed as required," according to Reuters. IAEA issued a statement saying: "The team ... has concluded that plant safety features performed as required during the earthquake. Damage from the earthquake appears to be limited to those sections of the plant that would not affect the reactor or systems related to reactor safety." Systems and structures related to nuclear safety are designed to withstand earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and large fires. IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei was quoted as praising the Japanese for openness: "The mission's findings and the Japanese analyses of the event include important lessons learned - both positive and negative - that will be relevant to other nuclear plants worldwide."
Posted by: nuclear environmentalist on Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:19 am
I heard yesterday's test, and most of the previous ones. It appears the sirens were loud enough yesterday (but not necessarily for others). I have to note that the volume did vary, probably due to whatever wind may be present. (The wind was very slight for yesterday's test.) I could hear them with the windows closed but the varying volume may have at times lowered them to the point where they may not have been heard with the windows closed. I live a few feet beyond the 10 mile limit in Rockland County. (Nearest siren is #252 for the old system.) Cheers, John L
Posted by: lipwak on Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:06 am
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 15, 2007)
BUCHANAN -Indian Point scored 100 yesterday on its latest emergency notification test, with all 155 sirens sounding in the four counties within 10 miles of the nuclear plants.
Now company officials have 10 days to prove that the system is as loud as it is reliable.
"It's definitely a favorable trend," Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said of yesterday's and Saturday's test, which reached 96 percent success. "However, there are still other steps that must be completed."
Chief among those will be presenting field-test data to the Federal Emergency Management Agency that proves that individual sirens are sounding loudly enough so residents can hear them above whatever noise is in the background.
Proving that to federal officials' satisfaction could take each of the 10 days remaining until the Aug. 24 deadline to have the $15 million system operational.
"It's getting incrementally better and we've come a long way since April, but I'm still extremely concerned about whether the sirens are loud enough," said Rebecca Thomson, FEMA's top official on the project. "We're hearing a lot of anecdotal evidence that they aren't."
Thomson said a FEMA contractor was in the field yesterday, taking acoustic readings at a number of locations, as was done during Saturday's test.
"That is for verification purposes," Thomson said. FEMA officials were also stationed at the county emergency centers in Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties, and at the plants.
Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns and operates Indian Point, is putting together documentation of sound levels, which company officials hope will satisfy federal regulators.
Michael Slobedien, Entergy's top emergency preparedness official for the region, said the company's studies indicate the sirens have the necessary reach and should be able to provide adequate data for FEMA to make a decision.
"I think it's going to be a push to get it done by the deadline," Slobedien said. "It's a race and we're sprinting to the end. It's clearly a very powerful and capable system and should be put in place to serve the public."
Entergy agreed in late 2005 to replace the alert system by the end of the January of this year. The company received a 75-day extension from the NRC, but was fined $130,000 when it missed the second deadline on April 15.
NRC officials have not said what sanction might follow a third missed deadline, but more fines would be in the mix.
There are no more tests scheduled at this point and the final approval will be handled much more quietly via letters involving FEMA, the NRC and Entergy. FEMA has the final say on the approval, acting as an arm of the NRC.
As someone intimately involved in the two-year marathon, Anthony Sutton, Westchester's commissioner of emergency services, is eagerly awaiting an end.
"The testing is supposed to be done, the stage is set now," Sutton said. "A lot of people think we're hoping (Entergy fails). The last thing I want to do is engage in more testing. We've got a lot of other things to do."
Reach Greg Clary at 914-696-8566 or gclary@lohud.com.
Post a Comment View All Comments
Entergy's Frank Phillips, who was running the siren tests, told us how he had called up 50,000 people the night before. It seems that audible outdoor alerting is not the only prong on the Entergy alert machine. Automated mass dialing, with a preset message was already used by Mr. Phillips, and he implied other methods were also being brought into play. (Cell phones..Text Messaging.... Email.... RSS alerts). But hooray for a 100% functional siren system. Now let's get past all the fluff issues, and fix those lousy roads, and that decrepit TZ bridge. We expect to need the sirens once in 280,000 years. We expect to drive those roads TWICE A DAY.
Posted by: VP_VP on Wed Aug 15, 2007 12:43 pm
IAEA Says Japanese Nuclear Plant Safety Features Held Up in Quake The International Atomic Energy Agency plans to issue a report on the effect of a serious earthquake last month on the Kashiwazaki Kariwa nuclear power plant, concluding that "safety procedures" had "performed as required," according to Reuters. IAEA issued a statement saying: "The team ... has concluded that plant safety features performed as required during the earthquake. Damage from the earthquake appears to be limited to those sections of the plant that would not affect the reactor or systems related to reactor safety." Systems and structures related to nuclear safety are designed to withstand earthquakes, hurricanes, tornadoes and large fires. IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei was quoted as praising the Japanese for openness: "The mission's findings and the Japanese analyses of the event include important lessons learned - both positive and negative - that will be relevant to other nuclear plants worldwide."
Posted by: nuclear environmentalist on Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:19 am
I heard yesterday's test, and most of the previous ones. It appears the sirens were loud enough yesterday (but not necessarily for others). I have to note that the volume did vary, probably due to whatever wind may be present. (The wind was very slight for yesterday's test.) I could hear them with the windows closed but the varying volume may have at times lowered them to the point where they may not have been heard with the windows closed. I live a few feet beyond the 10 mile limit in Rockland County. (Nearest siren is #252 for the old system.) Cheers, John L
Posted by: lipwak on Wed Aug 15, 2007 10:06 am
Updated: Indian Point's emergency sirens all sound, 10 days before NRC deadline
Updated: Indian Point's emergency sirens all sound, 10 days before NRC deadline
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 14, 2007)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy set the deadline for installing a new siren system for Indian Point. The headline on an earlier version of this article misstated the federal agency involved.BUCHANAN - After several failures over the past few months, all of Indian Point's sirens sounded loud and clear during a test of the nuclear power plant's emergency notification system this morning.
Federal officials watching over five different locations in four counties verified that all 155 sirens sounded during the four-minute test at 10:30 a.m.
The sirens are spread across the parts of Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties that fall within a 10-mile radius of the nuclear power plant.
Six sirens had failed during a test attempted Saturday, resulting in a 96 percent success rate.
The success comes just 10 days before the third federal deadline to get the plant's sirens working. Federal emergency management officials observed the tests at five locations throughout the 10-mile emergency zone around the plant.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given Entergy Nuclear, Indian Point's owner and operator, until Aug. 24 to get the sirens working properly.
Entergy had agreed to install a $15 million alert system in the fall of 2005. The company received a 75-day extension from the NRC after regulators agreed that the project needed more time than the Jan. 30, 2007, deadline allowed.
But the agency wasn't as forgiving after the company missed an April 15 deadline, fining Entergy $130,000 and requiring a plan to finish the project by Aug. 24.
The sirens can't necessarily be heard inside homes or offices, especially if air conditioning is on.
Check back for updates at LoHud.com or read more in tomorrow's Journal News.
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Ahhhh... listening to the Mike Kansler groupies chirp and purrr! Fame is such an aphrodisiac! Mike IS actually kind of hunky, in a sinister, Gone With The Wind kind of way! MMMMMMM! So a tsunami is not comparable because you can't regulate it beforehand?How about reinforced concrete overlays on the Kensico dam face, remaking all the east to west roads leading out of the Bronx River Valley, and a set of 300 or so tsunami alert sirens down along the course of the Bronx River, along with an automated reset of all the traffic lights in the tsunami path? (The 9 counties around San Francisco HAVE such a system). But No.... we can't do that, because RFKjr hasn't thought of it yet, and written a Rolling Stone article. Chernobyl, where peacenik tour guides now lead daily eco-tours, made up of antinukers like you, is once again big business. People are doing daily hunting trips into the exclusion area, because game has rebounded to pre-WWI proportions. Old people who never left, still live there, and only 1500 case of thyroid cancer were ever reported, and even they are not directly attributable to Chernobyl, but merely to the fact that nobody ever counted thyroid cancer cases in Byelorussia before. That mild kind of cancer is 100% curable, so no deaths at all resulted from them. The 31 people who died at Chernobyl were firemen fighting the fire. 31 people die every day from traffic accidents in the state of California. 1,000,000 people die in China each year from the result of burning coal. Chernobyl was a badly designed badly run RBMK reactor, a type which is now forbidden, and it never had any safety systems or any containment. It had a flammable graphite core (IPEC has water) and therefore could burn, spreading radiation. IPEC cannot burn, IPEC has a water moderated core, IPEC has safety systems, IPEC has a containment, and IPEC was designed by Westinghouse for God's sake not by Nishtalya from Ozersk. I believe, intellectually and philosophically speaking, you DO live inside a centrifuge in Ozersk! A centrifuge spun by Bobby Kennedy and his thimerasol bullshit, and his prepping his audience to vote for him in 2008. I believe you ought to leave the centrifuge, clear your head, and come out into the light, where the rest of us around here are having a pretty good life.
Posted by: VP_VP on Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:35 am
Actually Ed, I beleive Kansler was recently transferred to Jackson, Mississippi. ( it's a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi mud ). Leaving God knows who in charge of Indian Point. However, I beleive PEON does operate out of a centrifuge in Ozersk. 1776: the directors cutPosted by: ball on Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:10 am
Christ, they're living in Lousiana! I'd rather live inside a centrifuge in Ozersk.
Posted by: ed on Tue Aug 14, 2007 7:26 pm
Listen Ed ( or any other open minded non-PEONs out there ) all you have to do is ask yourself this : If Indian Point is such a SAFE and BEAUTIFUL place, why don't J WAYNE LEORNARD and MICHAEL KANSLER reside within the TEN MILE RADIUS? J WAYNE LEONARD C E O ENTERGY HEADQUATERS 639 LOYOLA AVE NEW ORLEANS, LA 70113 PHONE: 504-576-4000 FAX: 504-576-4428 PLUTONIUM IS FOREVER!
Posted by: ball on Tue Aug 14, 2007 5:11 pm
Oh, I see, YOU guarantee it. Who in hell are you, Nostradamus? What do I think CAN happen from this place? This: Granted, Chernobyl was run by a bunch of nitwitws. But, I've noticed more than a few over here and many of them in high places. The 2005 report prepared by the Chernobyl Forum, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization, attributed 56 direct deaths and estimated there may be 4000 extra deaths due to cancer among the 6.6 million most highly exposed. Specifically, the report cited 4000 thyroid cancer cases among children diagnosed by 2002. Your tsunami comparison is ridiculous since there is little you can do beforehand to negate a tsunami. Capisca?
Posted by: ed on Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:26 pm
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 14, 2007)
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Entergy set the deadline for installing a new siren system for Indian Point. The headline on an earlier version of this article misstated the federal agency involved.BUCHANAN - After several failures over the past few months, all of Indian Point's sirens sounded loud and clear during a test of the nuclear power plant's emergency notification system this morning.
Federal officials watching over five different locations in four counties verified that all 155 sirens sounded during the four-minute test at 10:30 a.m.
The sirens are spread across the parts of Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties that fall within a 10-mile radius of the nuclear power plant.
Six sirens had failed during a test attempted Saturday, resulting in a 96 percent success rate.
The success comes just 10 days before the third federal deadline to get the plant's sirens working. Federal emergency management officials observed the tests at five locations throughout the 10-mile emergency zone around the plant.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given Entergy Nuclear, Indian Point's owner and operator, until Aug. 24 to get the sirens working properly.
Entergy had agreed to install a $15 million alert system in the fall of 2005. The company received a 75-day extension from the NRC after regulators agreed that the project needed more time than the Jan. 30, 2007, deadline allowed.
But the agency wasn't as forgiving after the company missed an April 15 deadline, fining Entergy $130,000 and requiring a plan to finish the project by Aug. 24.
The sirens can't necessarily be heard inside homes or offices, especially if air conditioning is on.
Check back for updates at LoHud.com or read more in tomorrow's Journal News.
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Ahhhh... listening to the Mike Kansler groupies chirp and purrr! Fame is such an aphrodisiac! Mike IS actually kind of hunky, in a sinister, Gone With The Wind kind of way! MMMMMMM! So a tsunami is not comparable because you can't regulate it beforehand?How about reinforced concrete overlays on the Kensico dam face, remaking all the east to west roads leading out of the Bronx River Valley, and a set of 300 or so tsunami alert sirens down along the course of the Bronx River, along with an automated reset of all the traffic lights in the tsunami path? (The 9 counties around San Francisco HAVE such a system). But No.... we can't do that, because RFKjr hasn't thought of it yet, and written a Rolling Stone article. Chernobyl, where peacenik tour guides now lead daily eco-tours, made up of antinukers like you, is once again big business. People are doing daily hunting trips into the exclusion area, because game has rebounded to pre-WWI proportions. Old people who never left, still live there, and only 1500 case of thyroid cancer were ever reported, and even they are not directly attributable to Chernobyl, but merely to the fact that nobody ever counted thyroid cancer cases in Byelorussia before. That mild kind of cancer is 100% curable, so no deaths at all resulted from them. The 31 people who died at Chernobyl were firemen fighting the fire. 31 people die every day from traffic accidents in the state of California. 1,000,000 people die in China each year from the result of burning coal. Chernobyl was a badly designed badly run RBMK reactor, a type which is now forbidden, and it never had any safety systems or any containment. It had a flammable graphite core (IPEC has water) and therefore could burn, spreading radiation. IPEC cannot burn, IPEC has a water moderated core, IPEC has safety systems, IPEC has a containment, and IPEC was designed by Westinghouse for God's sake not by Nishtalya from Ozersk. I believe, intellectually and philosophically speaking, you DO live inside a centrifuge in Ozersk! A centrifuge spun by Bobby Kennedy and his thimerasol bullshit, and his prepping his audience to vote for him in 2008. I believe you ought to leave the centrifuge, clear your head, and come out into the light, where the rest of us around here are having a pretty good life.
Posted by: VP_VP on Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:35 am
Actually Ed, I beleive Kansler was recently transferred to Jackson, Mississippi. ( it's a treat to beat your feet on the Mississippi mud ). Leaving God knows who in charge of Indian Point. However, I beleive PEON does operate out of a centrifuge in Ozersk. 1776: the directors cutPosted by: ball on Wed Aug 15, 2007 3:10 am
Christ, they're living in Lousiana! I'd rather live inside a centrifuge in Ozersk.
Posted by: ed on Tue Aug 14, 2007 7:26 pm
Listen Ed ( or any other open minded non-PEONs out there ) all you have to do is ask yourself this : If Indian Point is such a SAFE and BEAUTIFUL place, why don't J WAYNE LEORNARD and MICHAEL KANSLER reside within the TEN MILE RADIUS? J WAYNE LEONARD C E O ENTERGY HEADQUATERS 639 LOYOLA AVE NEW ORLEANS, LA 70113 PHONE: 504-576-4000 FAX: 504-576-4428 PLUTONIUM IS FOREVER!
Posted by: ball on Tue Aug 14, 2007 5:11 pm
Oh, I see, YOU guarantee it. Who in hell are you, Nostradamus? What do I think CAN happen from this place? This: Granted, Chernobyl was run by a bunch of nitwitws. But, I've noticed more than a few over here and many of them in high places. The 2005 report prepared by the Chernobyl Forum, led by the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Health Organization, attributed 56 direct deaths and estimated there may be 4000 extra deaths due to cancer among the 6.6 million most highly exposed. Specifically, the report cited 4000 thyroid cancer cases among children diagnosed by 2002. Your tsunami comparison is ridiculous since there is little you can do beforehand to negate a tsunami. Capisca?
Posted by: ed on Tue Aug 14, 2007 4:26 pm
Regulators keeping tighter tabs on dangerous radioactive material
Regulators keeping tighter tabs on dangerous radioactive material
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 14, 2007)
BUCHANAN - Specially trained contractors broke open a bolted box at the bottom of Indian Point 3's spent-fuel pool this month, hoping to find tiny amounts of weapons-grade uranium 235 that federal officials want to verify haven't been misplaced, lost or stolen.
The work - done underwater with equipment operated from above - should be finished in the next few days, and Indian Point officials expect to find all the radioactive isotopes they're supposed to.
Still, the process is painstaking.
"You can't just empty the contents of the boxes on the floor and start counting," said Indian Point spokesman Jim Steets. "One of the boxes gave the guys trouble just to get it opened."
Federal regulators are requiring an updated inventory of "special nuclear material" at nuclear plants across the country and have found a few cases - including Indian Point - where the storage methods and records don't meet Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards.
Those gaps bring into focus the storage of radioactive isotopes that, before Sept. 11, 2001, were considered so dangerous to handle that thieves wouldn't risk certain suicide to steal them.
"The current threat environment has changed the NRC's perspective of the self-protecting nature of this material," said Martha Williams, the agency official most responsible for ensuring inventories are accurate. "Ten years ago it never occurred to anybody that somebody would give up their life to get something like this."
It's pretty clear from experts that those trying to grab some plutonium or enhanced uranium to create a radiological disaster wouldn't get far at a nuclear plant without taking extraordinary precautions.
"When you're talking about somebody trying to steal or deliver the material, the radiation around that spent-fuel pool would be so high that if you didn't have the proper equipment, you'd have only minutes to live," said Joseph Alverez, a health physicist with more than 30 years' experience in radiation-protection programs, most of that with the U.S. Department of Energy.
"It would be like trying to walk into a place that's 300 degrees and expecting to live," Alverez said. "We're talking about radiation so strong, you're getting fried. Your nerves just go. Your body can't cool itself off."
NRC officials say that since terrorists have shown they will give their lives if the cause is important enough to them, the rules have changed, not just in tightened security measures, but also in the day-to-day warehousing of nuclear material.
So much so that the agency committed extra resources late last year to review all of its 104 nuclear plant inventories by the summer, even down to verifying amounts minute enough to force Indian Point to break open a box that had been closed since about 1988.
Entergy Nuclear, which owns and operates Indian Point, bought the power plant in 2001 and is responsible for visually verifying all its inventories.
"We have to account for metric tons (of special nuclear material)," said Robert "Monk" Hansler, the man responsible for Indian Point's inventory. "Almost all of it - probably 99.9 percent - is spent fuel."
The small remaining amount is either new fuel, instrumentation calibration samples, or detectors that measure the power of the nuclear reactors on site.
That last category is what caused the inventory problem at Indian Point and has cost other nuclear plants hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines when the detectors have turned up missing.
It's too early to know what the NRC will do on the issue with Indian Point, which was cited for not visually verifying each detector during annual inspections. Entergy said it believed the bolted container left over from previous owners was to be counted as a unit.
Federal regulators said company officials should have opened it because it was merely bolted shut, not sealed.
Indian Point isn't alone among plants that have had to find special nuclear material that wasn't properly inventoried.
As recently as last month, Dresden 3 in Morris, Ill., ran into trouble when officials couldn't locate two fuel pellets and 99 pieces of uranium used as in-core power detectors.
The items were last documented in 1977 in the reactor's spent- fuel pool and are still unaccounted for, NRC officials said yesterday.
There have been other cases, as well, including Entergy plants in Vermont and Massachusetts.
The case that raised the most auditing concerns, however, was the Millstone power plant in Waterford, Conn., which was fined $288,000 in 2002 for two fuel rods that were reported missing in 2000 and were never found.
Millstone, in fact, is the reason that the federal government started keeping a closer eye on the nuclear industry's fuel supplies - that and the terrorist attacks of 2001, NRC officials said.
A special investigation soon after those events led to a 2005 federal government report that cited a lack of visual verification of inventory and too great a reliance on record keeping that wasn't even computerized until more recent times.
"It's because of some of the problems ... that the NRC is now more in a Missouri mode, where you have to 'show me,' " said David Lochbaum, a nuclear specialist with the Union of Concerned Scientists. "In the past, a paperwork audit was enough and the change is leading to some of the situations that we have today like Indian Point's."
Lochbaum chided the NRC's lack of speed in arriving at the new attitude, noting that the Millstone discovery happened in late 1999 and that seven-plus years was too long to wait to enact tighter controls.
"The NRC is moving in the right direction on this, but they can turn a license renewal around in 24 months," Lochbaum said. "They're an agency that allegedly puts safety first."
Lochbaum and Alverez, as well as Entergy and NRC officials, all pointed out that the amounts of uranium 235 being reviewed at Indian Point are too small to make a bomb. The material has also been enriched to a maximum of 5 percent, while the amounts needed for an atomic bomb would be thousands of times greater and would have to be enriched to more than 90 percent.
"The uranium at a nuclear power plant, you can't make it into a bomb. You just can't blow that stuff up," Alverez said. "The stuff that could be made into a bomb, there just so little of it, you'd have to collect a bunch of it from a bunch of different places to do it."
He said the people who have enough nuclear material to make something dangerous are sanctioned labs set up for nuclear bomb research.
"Unless you're doing special types of experiments, you don't want that much of this material," Alverez said. "If you've got enough to make a bomb, and it gets together accidentally, you'd have a problem. It's very unstable."
Reach Greg Clary at 914-696-8566 or gclary@lohud.com.
Post a Comment View All Comments
* CORRECTION : Previous post should read Professor George Gobel. I meant no slur against this late, great American humorist. May he rest in peace.
Posted by: ball on Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:58 am
On the humorous side......... TEN THINGS YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR AT INDIAN POINT. 1 HEY! Is SMOKE coming out of the core normal? 2 Check your weapons at the door. 3 Who forgot to pay the water bill? 4 Oh yeah.....50 bucks says I can make it blow. 5 Man, I can't wait to get my hands on those 40 virgins! 6 Is that a " 60 MINUTES " film crew out there ? 7 Don't forget your homework. 8 Chernobyl........3 Mile Island......been there, done that. 9 Meet your new plant supervisor........Homer Simpson. 10 I'm chowing tuna MELT DOWN for lunch. Don't forget to share these jokes with a friend. J WAYNE LEONARD C E O ENTERGY HEADQUATERS 639 LOYOLA AVE. NEW ORLEANS, LA 70113 PHONE : 504-576-4000 FAX : 504-576-4428 The thought for today is from Professor George Goebels : Did you ever notice that Westchester County is a black tuxedo and Indian Point is a brown pair of shoes.
Posted by: ball on Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:58 pm
Well, Greg, this is excellent and surprisingly detailed coverage of a regulatory policy change that very few people have ever heard about (much less care about). It's reassuring in the face of constant negative characterization of NRC as a lapdog agency, to see that they indeed have the initiative to demand more out of their regulated sites. But, as in all things surrounding the "N" word, nothing, apparently, will ever be good enough for Mr. Lochbaum, one of the most notable fantasy-football phantom-NRC pretenders. In Lochbaum's fantasy NRC, they made the change retroactively, by going back in time, to before when the change was needed. You can do that, when you're running a fantasy NRC (Like Lochbaum is). Realworlders, unfortunately, are stuck doing everything one day at a time. But good for you, and good for NRC. I'm sort of caught in a bind here, about whether to chide you about the timing of your release of this piece, seemingly right "in the slot" between the announcement of the 14-day New Years Eve Lighted Ball countdown to the siren cutoff date, and no other news coming out of IPEC. But I guess you gotta sell hotcakes when they're hot, or find another name for 'em. You just have to watch out, lest you excite geriatric/histrionics like Nita Lowey into tossing around chilling phrases like "incompetency" , "loosey-goosey" etc. just to re-sell a few "lukewarm cakes" after TJN is done with them. What I'm saying, is that a looney alter-myth is just waiting to attach itself to your story series like a stachybotris mold, and that your constant exhumation of minutiae about IPEC could turn unhealthy, and promote untruth, lunacy, and a kind of greenshirt enviro-nazism...... all inadvertently, of course. Should our friend "ball" choose to attach his/her usual swatsticker-graffitti piece to the end of this post, you would have your object lesson that civility is easy to trash, and very hard to recover, and Journalists should not be in the business of tossing Haymarket Riot M80's on the printed page. ( Please show this post to your buddy Herb Pinder). I mean, William Randolph Hearst did it, and look what we got out of it....Imelda Marcos,... Fidel Castro,... and the Symbionese Liberation Army shooting people in Oakland with cyanide-dipped dum dum bullets. Anyway, the part you chose not to include was the existing 10CFR73 precautions, in place for decades, surrounding SNM with a veritable minefield of closed pathways, so that the scenarios you blithely elicit from Mr. Alvarez are not given the spin he hoped you would pick up on, namely that it is impossible to go anywhere near SNM, even for a jihadi willing to die. Nobody can take or misuse the stuff. NRC is just making sure nobody is fooling them with forged paper inventory sheets.
Posted by: VP_VP on Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:37 am
Stuart Bayer/The Journal News
The containment dome and spent-fuel pool building of Indian Point 2 in Buchanan is seen in this file photo.
Test planned today
As part of Entergy Nuclear's efforts to install a new $15 million emergency notification system, the company will conduct a full-volume test today of the 155 sirens spread out among the four counties surrounding the nuclear plants.The four-minute test is set for 10:30 a.m. Officials from Entergy, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties, and the federal government will watch to see how the event stacks up against one held Saturday that showed a 96 percent success rate.The public is not required to do anything during the test. The sirens sound in a 10-mile radius of the nuclear plants and can't necessarily be heard inside homes or offices, especially if air conditioning is on.Entergy is facing an Aug. 24 deadline to install the new system.
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 14, 2007)
BUCHANAN - Specially trained contractors broke open a bolted box at the bottom of Indian Point 3's spent-fuel pool this month, hoping to find tiny amounts of weapons-grade uranium 235 that federal officials want to verify haven't been misplaced, lost or stolen.
The work - done underwater with equipment operated from above - should be finished in the next few days, and Indian Point officials expect to find all the radioactive isotopes they're supposed to.
Still, the process is painstaking.
"You can't just empty the contents of the boxes on the floor and start counting," said Indian Point spokesman Jim Steets. "One of the boxes gave the guys trouble just to get it opened."
Federal regulators are requiring an updated inventory of "special nuclear material" at nuclear plants across the country and have found a few cases - including Indian Point - where the storage methods and records don't meet Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards.
Those gaps bring into focus the storage of radioactive isotopes that, before Sept. 11, 2001, were considered so dangerous to handle that thieves wouldn't risk certain suicide to steal them.
"The current threat environment has changed the NRC's perspective of the self-protecting nature of this material," said Martha Williams, the agency official most responsible for ensuring inventories are accurate. "Ten years ago it never occurred to anybody that somebody would give up their life to get something like this."
It's pretty clear from experts that those trying to grab some plutonium or enhanced uranium to create a radiological disaster wouldn't get far at a nuclear plant without taking extraordinary precautions.
"When you're talking about somebody trying to steal or deliver the material, the radiation around that spent-fuel pool would be so high that if you didn't have the proper equipment, you'd have only minutes to live," said Joseph Alverez, a health physicist with more than 30 years' experience in radiation-protection programs, most of that with the U.S. Department of Energy.
"It would be like trying to walk into a place that's 300 degrees and expecting to live," Alverez said. "We're talking about radiation so strong, you're getting fried. Your nerves just go. Your body can't cool itself off."
NRC officials say that since terrorists have shown they will give their lives if the cause is important enough to them, the rules have changed, not just in tightened security measures, but also in the day-to-day warehousing of nuclear material.
So much so that the agency committed extra resources late last year to review all of its 104 nuclear plant inventories by the summer, even down to verifying amounts minute enough to force Indian Point to break open a box that had been closed since about 1988.
Entergy Nuclear, which owns and operates Indian Point, bought the power plant in 2001 and is responsible for visually verifying all its inventories.
"We have to account for metric tons (of special nuclear material)," said Robert "Monk" Hansler, the man responsible for Indian Point's inventory. "Almost all of it - probably 99.9 percent - is spent fuel."
The small remaining amount is either new fuel, instrumentation calibration samples, or detectors that measure the power of the nuclear reactors on site.
That last category is what caused the inventory problem at Indian Point and has cost other nuclear plants hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines when the detectors have turned up missing.
It's too early to know what the NRC will do on the issue with Indian Point, which was cited for not visually verifying each detector during annual inspections. Entergy said it believed the bolted container left over from previous owners was to be counted as a unit.
Federal regulators said company officials should have opened it because it was merely bolted shut, not sealed.
Indian Point isn't alone among plants that have had to find special nuclear material that wasn't properly inventoried.
As recently as last month, Dresden 3 in Morris, Ill., ran into trouble when officials couldn't locate two fuel pellets and 99 pieces of uranium used as in-core power detectors.
The items were last documented in 1977 in the reactor's spent- fuel pool and are still unaccounted for, NRC officials said yesterday.
There have been other cases, as well, including Entergy plants in Vermont and Massachusetts.
The case that raised the most auditing concerns, however, was the Millstone power plant in Waterford, Conn., which was fined $288,000 in 2002 for two fuel rods that were reported missing in 2000 and were never found.
Millstone, in fact, is the reason that the federal government started keeping a closer eye on the nuclear industry's fuel supplies - that and the terrorist attacks of 2001, NRC officials said.
A special investigation soon after those events led to a 2005 federal government report that cited a lack of visual verification of inventory and too great a reliance on record keeping that wasn't even computerized until more recent times.
"It's because of some of the problems ... that the NRC is now more in a Missouri mode, where you have to 'show me,' " said David Lochbaum, a nuclear specialist with the Union of Concerned Scientists. "In the past, a paperwork audit was enough and the change is leading to some of the situations that we have today like Indian Point's."
Lochbaum chided the NRC's lack of speed in arriving at the new attitude, noting that the Millstone discovery happened in late 1999 and that seven-plus years was too long to wait to enact tighter controls.
"The NRC is moving in the right direction on this, but they can turn a license renewal around in 24 months," Lochbaum said. "They're an agency that allegedly puts safety first."
Lochbaum and Alverez, as well as Entergy and NRC officials, all pointed out that the amounts of uranium 235 being reviewed at Indian Point are too small to make a bomb. The material has also been enriched to a maximum of 5 percent, while the amounts needed for an atomic bomb would be thousands of times greater and would have to be enriched to more than 90 percent.
"The uranium at a nuclear power plant, you can't make it into a bomb. You just can't blow that stuff up," Alverez said. "The stuff that could be made into a bomb, there just so little of it, you'd have to collect a bunch of it from a bunch of different places to do it."
He said the people who have enough nuclear material to make something dangerous are sanctioned labs set up for nuclear bomb research.
"Unless you're doing special types of experiments, you don't want that much of this material," Alverez said. "If you've got enough to make a bomb, and it gets together accidentally, you'd have a problem. It's very unstable."
Reach Greg Clary at 914-696-8566 or gclary@lohud.com.
Post a Comment View All Comments
* CORRECTION : Previous post should read Professor George Gobel. I meant no slur against this late, great American humorist. May he rest in peace.
Posted by: ball on Wed Aug 15, 2007 4:58 am
On the humorous side......... TEN THINGS YOU DON'T WANT TO HEAR AT INDIAN POINT. 1 HEY! Is SMOKE coming out of the core normal? 2 Check your weapons at the door. 3 Who forgot to pay the water bill? 4 Oh yeah.....50 bucks says I can make it blow. 5 Man, I can't wait to get my hands on those 40 virgins! 6 Is that a " 60 MINUTES " film crew out there ? 7 Don't forget your homework. 8 Chernobyl........3 Mile Island......been there, done that. 9 Meet your new plant supervisor........Homer Simpson. 10 I'm chowing tuna MELT DOWN for lunch. Don't forget to share these jokes with a friend. J WAYNE LEONARD C E O ENTERGY HEADQUATERS 639 LOYOLA AVE. NEW ORLEANS, LA 70113 PHONE : 504-576-4000 FAX : 504-576-4428 The thought for today is from Professor George Goebels : Did you ever notice that Westchester County is a black tuxedo and Indian Point is a brown pair of shoes.
Posted by: ball on Tue Aug 14, 2007 3:58 pm
Well, Greg, this is excellent and surprisingly detailed coverage of a regulatory policy change that very few people have ever heard about (much less care about). It's reassuring in the face of constant negative characterization of NRC as a lapdog agency, to see that they indeed have the initiative to demand more out of their regulated sites. But, as in all things surrounding the "N" word, nothing, apparently, will ever be good enough for Mr. Lochbaum, one of the most notable fantasy-football phantom-NRC pretenders. In Lochbaum's fantasy NRC, they made the change retroactively, by going back in time, to before when the change was needed. You can do that, when you're running a fantasy NRC (Like Lochbaum is). Realworlders, unfortunately, are stuck doing everything one day at a time. But good for you, and good for NRC. I'm sort of caught in a bind here, about whether to chide you about the timing of your release of this piece, seemingly right "in the slot" between the announcement of the 14-day New Years Eve Lighted Ball countdown to the siren cutoff date, and no other news coming out of IPEC. But I guess you gotta sell hotcakes when they're hot, or find another name for 'em. You just have to watch out, lest you excite geriatric/histrionics like Nita Lowey into tossing around chilling phrases like "incompetency" , "loosey-goosey" etc. just to re-sell a few "lukewarm cakes" after TJN is done with them. What I'm saying, is that a looney alter-myth is just waiting to attach itself to your story series like a stachybotris mold, and that your constant exhumation of minutiae about IPEC could turn unhealthy, and promote untruth, lunacy, and a kind of greenshirt enviro-nazism...... all inadvertently, of course. Should our friend "ball" choose to attach his/her usual swatsticker-graffitti piece to the end of this post, you would have your object lesson that civility is easy to trash, and very hard to recover, and Journalists should not be in the business of tossing Haymarket Riot M80's on the printed page. ( Please show this post to your buddy Herb Pinder). I mean, William Randolph Hearst did it, and look what we got out of it....Imelda Marcos,... Fidel Castro,... and the Symbionese Liberation Army shooting people in Oakland with cyanide-dipped dum dum bullets. Anyway, the part you chose not to include was the existing 10CFR73 precautions, in place for decades, surrounding SNM with a veritable minefield of closed pathways, so that the scenarios you blithely elicit from Mr. Alvarez are not given the spin he hoped you would pick up on, namely that it is impossible to go anywhere near SNM, even for a jihadi willing to die. Nobody can take or misuse the stuff. NRC is just making sure nobody is fooling them with forged paper inventory sheets.
Posted by: VP_VP on Tue Aug 14, 2007 2:37 am
Stuart Bayer/The Journal News
The containment dome and spent-fuel pool building of Indian Point 2 in Buchanan is seen in this file photo.
Test planned today
As part of Entergy Nuclear's efforts to install a new $15 million emergency notification system, the company will conduct a full-volume test today of the 155 sirens spread out among the four counties surrounding the nuclear plants.The four-minute test is set for 10:30 a.m. Officials from Entergy, Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties, and the federal government will watch to see how the event stacks up against one held Saturday that showed a 96 percent success rate.The public is not required to do anything during the test. The sirens sound in a 10-mile radius of the nuclear plants and can't necessarily be heard inside homes or offices, especially if air conditioning is on.Entergy is facing an Aug. 24 deadline to install the new system.
Monday, August 13, 2007
Entergy prefers slower closure
Entergy prefers slower closure
August 12, 2007
The Associated Press
VERNON — The owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant would rather take the slower of two approaches to decommissioning the reactor when it's time for the plant to shut down, a company official told a state advisory panel.But the "SAFSTOR" method of decommissioning could mean the plant sitting idle for up to 60 years before it is dismantled, and members of the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel indicated at a meeting Friday that method may be a tough sell.Idling the plant for that long would allow components to become less radioactive over time, said officials with plant owner Entergy Nuclear.Discussion about decommissioning also allowed Entergy to make another pitch for extending Vermont Yankee's operating license for 20 years beyond its currently scheduled shutdown in 2012.Decommissioning using the SAFSTOR method is projected to cost $804 million to $991 million if the process is begun in 2012; the decommissioning fund currently has just $431 million in it. Running the plant until 2032 would allow time for the fund to grow if invested wisely, said John Dreyfuss, Entergy's director of nuclear safety.SAFSTOR is one of two decommissioning methods approved by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The other, DECON, is expected to take just 10 years as opposed to 60. But it would be costlier and could increase the risk of workers being exposed to radiation, said David McElwee, Entergy senior liaison engineer.David O'Brien, commissioner of the Department of Public Service and chairman of the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel, said the state may have an interest in getting Vermont Yankee dismantled more quickly so that the site can be used for a new power plant. He asked Entergy to come to the next VSNAP meeting with more information on the two decommissioning methods.Rep. Sarah Edwards, P-Brattleboro and a member of the advisory panel, said she hoped Entergy's preference for SAFSTOR over DECON wasn't being driven by cost."I think one of the most revealing parts of the discussion for me was how the NRC has approved both, but (Entergy is) only looking at one seriously. I think, for due process, both of them should be considered, and we need to weigh the relative benefits," she said after the meeting.
August 12, 2007
The Associated Press
VERNON — The owners of the Vermont Yankee nuclear plant would rather take the slower of two approaches to decommissioning the reactor when it's time for the plant to shut down, a company official told a state advisory panel.But the "SAFSTOR" method of decommissioning could mean the plant sitting idle for up to 60 years before it is dismantled, and members of the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel indicated at a meeting Friday that method may be a tough sell.Idling the plant for that long would allow components to become less radioactive over time, said officials with plant owner Entergy Nuclear.Discussion about decommissioning also allowed Entergy to make another pitch for extending Vermont Yankee's operating license for 20 years beyond its currently scheduled shutdown in 2012.Decommissioning using the SAFSTOR method is projected to cost $804 million to $991 million if the process is begun in 2012; the decommissioning fund currently has just $431 million in it. Running the plant until 2032 would allow time for the fund to grow if invested wisely, said John Dreyfuss, Entergy's director of nuclear safety.SAFSTOR is one of two decommissioning methods approved by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The other, DECON, is expected to take just 10 years as opposed to 60. But it would be costlier and could increase the risk of workers being exposed to radiation, said David McElwee, Entergy senior liaison engineer.David O'Brien, commissioner of the Department of Public Service and chairman of the Vermont State Nuclear Advisory Panel, said the state may have an interest in getting Vermont Yankee dismantled more quickly so that the site can be used for a new power plant. He asked Entergy to come to the next VSNAP meeting with more information on the two decommissioning methods.Rep. Sarah Edwards, P-Brattleboro and a member of the advisory panel, said she hoped Entergy's preference for SAFSTOR over DECON wasn't being driven by cost."I think one of the most revealing parts of the discussion for me was how the NRC has approved both, but (Entergy is) only looking at one seriously. I think, for due process, both of them should be considered, and we need to weigh the relative benefits," she said after the meeting.
Test marks 'a big step' for new Indian Point siren system
Test marks 'a big step' for new Indian Point siren system
3:16 AM EDT, August 12, 2007
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BUCHANAN, N.Y. (AP) _ A new emergency siren system at the Indian Point nuclear power plant cleared an important hurdle when 96 percent of the sirens sounded properly in a test that had previously failed, plant officials said. All but six of the 155 sirens worked properly in a radio-activated test Saturday morning, two weeks before the date plant owner Nuclear Entergy Northeast has said the system will be fully operational. The radio-trigger method had proven a stubborn problem in previous tests, so Saturday's results marked "a big step," Entergy spokesman Jim Steets said. "We had a breakthrough a few weeks ago _ it was essentially a software issue," he said.
The sirens are meant to alert residents within 10 miles to any emergency at the two-reactor plant in Buchanan, 35 miles north of New York City. The alarms are spread through parts of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties. The new emergency sirens are due to be fully operational by August 24. In the meantime, an existing 156-siren system with a spotty record is still in place and could be used if needed. The old sirens have had various problems in recent years, leading to the move to replace them. The new system didn't do so well in some early tests, either, and Entergy missed an April 15 deadline to have the new sirens running. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the company $130,000, saying the failure reflected "insufficient management attention at senior levels." Rockland County's emergency services chief, Dan Greeley, called Saturday's test "a step in the right direction."
3:16 AM EDT, August 12, 2007
Article Tools
BUCHANAN, N.Y. (AP) _ A new emergency siren system at the Indian Point nuclear power plant cleared an important hurdle when 96 percent of the sirens sounded properly in a test that had previously failed, plant officials said. All but six of the 155 sirens worked properly in a radio-activated test Saturday morning, two weeks before the date plant owner Nuclear Entergy Northeast has said the system will be fully operational. The radio-trigger method had proven a stubborn problem in previous tests, so Saturday's results marked "a big step," Entergy spokesman Jim Steets said. "We had a breakthrough a few weeks ago _ it was essentially a software issue," he said.
The sirens are meant to alert residents within 10 miles to any emergency at the two-reactor plant in Buchanan, 35 miles north of New York City. The alarms are spread through parts of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties. The new emergency sirens are due to be fully operational by August 24. In the meantime, an existing 156-siren system with a spotty record is still in place and could be used if needed. The old sirens have had various problems in recent years, leading to the move to replace them. The new system didn't do so well in some early tests, either, and Entergy missed an April 15 deadline to have the new sirens running. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the company $130,000, saying the failure reflected "insufficient management attention at senior levels." Rockland County's emergency services chief, Dan Greeley, called Saturday's test "a step in the right direction."
Indian Point sirens at 96%
Indian Point sirens at 96%
var isoPubDate = 'August 13, 2007'
By The Associated PressAugust 13, 2007
Buchanan — A new emergency siren system at the Indian Point nuclear power plant cleared an important hurdle when 96 percent of the sirens sounded properly in a test that had previously failed, plant officials said.
All but six of the 155 sirens worked properly in a radio-activated test Saturday morning, two weeks before the date plant owner Nuclear Entergy Northeast has said the system will be fully operational.
The radio-trigger method had proven a stubborn problem in previous tests, so Saturday's results marked "a big step," Entergy spokesman Jim Steets said.
"We had a breakthrough a few weeks ago — it was essentially a software issue," he said.
The sirens are meant to alert residents within 10 miles to any emergency at the two-reactor plant in Buchanan, 35 miles north of New York City.
The alarms are spread through parts of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties.
The new emergency sirens are due to be fully operational by August 24. In the meantime, an existing 156-siren system with a spotty record is still in place and could be used if needed.
The old sirens have had various problems in recent years, leading to the move to replace them.
The new system didn't do so well in some early tests, either, and Entergy missed an April 15 deadline to have the new sirens running.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the company $130,000, saying the failure reflected "insufficient management attention at senior levels."
var isoPubDate = 'August 13, 2007'
By The Associated PressAugust 13, 2007
Buchanan — A new emergency siren system at the Indian Point nuclear power plant cleared an important hurdle when 96 percent of the sirens sounded properly in a test that had previously failed, plant officials said.
All but six of the 155 sirens worked properly in a radio-activated test Saturday morning, two weeks before the date plant owner Nuclear Entergy Northeast has said the system will be fully operational.
The radio-trigger method had proven a stubborn problem in previous tests, so Saturday's results marked "a big step," Entergy spokesman Jim Steets said.
"We had a breakthrough a few weeks ago — it was essentially a software issue," he said.
The sirens are meant to alert residents within 10 miles to any emergency at the two-reactor plant in Buchanan, 35 miles north of New York City.
The alarms are spread through parts of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties.
The new emergency sirens are due to be fully operational by August 24. In the meantime, an existing 156-siren system with a spotty record is still in place and could be used if needed.
The old sirens have had various problems in recent years, leading to the move to replace them.
The new system didn't do so well in some early tests, either, and Entergy missed an April 15 deadline to have the new sirens running.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission fined the company $130,000, saying the failure reflected "insufficient management attention at senior levels."
Indian Point required to have new sirens working in 2 weeks
Friday, August 10, 2007 Indian Point required to have new sirens working in 2 weeks Feds: Verification must be provided
BUCHANAN - Two weeks from today is the deadline for Indian Point to have its new emergency warning system working, and plant officials remain hopeful they can deliver on time despite regulatory questions that remain unanswered.
Federal officials expect the notification system to be loud enough to be heard in each of the 150 areas covered by individual sirens and are requiring Entergy Nuclear, Indian Point's owner and operator, to ensure that.
The sirens are spread across the parts of Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties that fall within a 10-mile radius of the nuclear power plant.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's top regional official on the project said Wednesday the agency must be able to verify that minimum sound levels are reached or it won't approve the project by the Aug. 24 deadline.
"They have not proven to us that the siren system can meet our basic regulations and guidance for siren sound coverage throughout the emergency planning zone," said Rebecca Thomson, branch chief for FEMA's radiological emergency planning group.
"They haven't provided us with any data to prove that," Thomson said. "What they provided is outdated and no good anymore because it was projected based on how the sirens were supposed to sound."
FEMA is acting on behalf of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees Indian Point's operation, including emergency planning.
Meeting deadline
Entergy officials said they were working to deliver the data FEMA needs in time to make the deadline and have moved ahead with local emergency staff training and other requirements as quickly as possible.
Training started this week, company officials said, and is expected to be finished by Aug. 21.
Entergy is up against its third deadline since agreeing to install a $15 million alert system in the fall of 2005.
The company asked for and received a 75-day extension from the nuclear regulatory agency after regulators agreed the project needed more time than the Jan. 30 deadline allowed.
The agency wasn't as forgiving after the company missed an April 15 deadline, fining Entergy $130,000 and requiring a plan to finish the project within a reasonable amount of time - Aug. 24 became the new target.
"I think we can resolve the issues that need to be resolved by then," Entergy spokesman Jim Steets said. "We're certainly driving toward that."
At least one county official involved in the project is skeptical that the latest deadline will be met.
"I suspect that they will not resolve it by the 24th," said Anthony Sutton, Westchester County's commissioner of emergency services. "We didn't want to be in this place as we go toward the deadline."
Sound is issue
One of the main questions is whether the sirens must meet a minimum of 70 decibels in louder areas and 60 decibels in quieter areas - or whether all sirens must be at least 10 decibels louder than background noise in each area.
Residents in the emergency planning zone have complained during months of siren testing they can't hear the new sirens as well as they can hear the existing sirens.
Thomson said yesterday field tests showed some of the sound coverage falls as much as 44 percent short of what was designed.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said the agency was aware of the remaining obstacles and was in daily contact with the nuclear plant about the sirens. He said agency officials would continue to monitor the project's progress.
Thomson was complimentary of the new system, saying it would be one of the best of its kind in the country once it's installed properly. The current system will remain in operation until the new system is approved.
"The system is complex," Thomson said. "It's going to have a lot of bugs. We just can't say 'Turn it on and make it the primary system' until we're convinced that the sound coverage is adequate."
BUCHANAN - Two weeks from today is the deadline for Indian Point to have its new emergency warning system working, and plant officials remain hopeful they can deliver on time despite regulatory questions that remain unanswered.
Federal officials expect the notification system to be loud enough to be heard in each of the 150 areas covered by individual sirens and are requiring Entergy Nuclear, Indian Point's owner and operator, to ensure that.
The sirens are spread across the parts of Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties that fall within a 10-mile radius of the nuclear power plant.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency's top regional official on the project said Wednesday the agency must be able to verify that minimum sound levels are reached or it won't approve the project by the Aug. 24 deadline.
"They have not proven to us that the siren system can meet our basic regulations and guidance for siren sound coverage throughout the emergency planning zone," said Rebecca Thomson, branch chief for FEMA's radiological emergency planning group.
"They haven't provided us with any data to prove that," Thomson said. "What they provided is outdated and no good anymore because it was projected based on how the sirens were supposed to sound."
FEMA is acting on behalf of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which oversees Indian Point's operation, including emergency planning.
Meeting deadline
Entergy officials said they were working to deliver the data FEMA needs in time to make the deadline and have moved ahead with local emergency staff training and other requirements as quickly as possible.
Training started this week, company officials said, and is expected to be finished by Aug. 21.
Entergy is up against its third deadline since agreeing to install a $15 million alert system in the fall of 2005.
The company asked for and received a 75-day extension from the nuclear regulatory agency after regulators agreed the project needed more time than the Jan. 30 deadline allowed.
The agency wasn't as forgiving after the company missed an April 15 deadline, fining Entergy $130,000 and requiring a plan to finish the project within a reasonable amount of time - Aug. 24 became the new target.
"I think we can resolve the issues that need to be resolved by then," Entergy spokesman Jim Steets said. "We're certainly driving toward that."
At least one county official involved in the project is skeptical that the latest deadline will be met.
"I suspect that they will not resolve it by the 24th," said Anthony Sutton, Westchester County's commissioner of emergency services. "We didn't want to be in this place as we go toward the deadline."
Sound is issue
One of the main questions is whether the sirens must meet a minimum of 70 decibels in louder areas and 60 decibels in quieter areas - or whether all sirens must be at least 10 decibels louder than background noise in each area.
Residents in the emergency planning zone have complained during months of siren testing they can't hear the new sirens as well as they can hear the existing sirens.
Thomson said yesterday field tests showed some of the sound coverage falls as much as 44 percent short of what was designed.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said the agency was aware of the remaining obstacles and was in daily contact with the nuclear plant about the sirens. He said agency officials would continue to monitor the project's progress.
Thomson was complimentary of the new system, saying it would be one of the best of its kind in the country once it's installed properly. The current system will remain in operation until the new system is approved.
"The system is complex," Thomson said. "It's going to have a lot of bugs. We just can't say 'Turn it on and make it the primary system' until we're convinced that the sound coverage is adequate."
Entergy will conduct a full volume test of all the
Entergy will conduct a full volume test of all the new Indian Point sirens on Tuesday, August 14, at 10:30 a.m.
During this test, all the sirens will sound at full volume for four minutes.
No response on the part of the public is necessary.
Residents should be aware that these new sirens do NOT sound like the current sirens. Westchester County officials will use the current siren system to alert the public during an emergency at Indian Point until the new siren system is completed and tested.
In an actual emergency, all the current sirens would sound at full volume for four minutes. Sirens are not a signal to evacuate, but rather to alert the public to tune to their local Emergency Alert System (EAS) radio or TV station for important information.
For county news, go to www.westchestergov.com
During this test, all the sirens will sound at full volume for four minutes.
No response on the part of the public is necessary.
Residents should be aware that these new sirens do NOT sound like the current sirens. Westchester County officials will use the current siren system to alert the public during an emergency at Indian Point until the new siren system is completed and tested.
In an actual emergency, all the current sirens would sound at full volume for four minutes. Sirens are not a signal to evacuate, but rather to alert the public to tune to their local Emergency Alert System (EAS) radio or TV station for important information.
For county news, go to www.westchestergov.com
Indian Point gets almost all its sirens working
Indian Point gets almost all its sirens working
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 12, 2007)
BUCHANAN -Indian Point's latest test of its new emergency alert system yesterday found only six out of 155 sirens failing to work properly.
That's a 96 percent success rate, and the nuclear plants' officials said it is important because the exercise relied exclusively on radio-activated triggers that haven't worked in previous tests.
"This is a big step for us, because the radio-activation method has been a very difficult problem," said Jim Steets, spokesman for Indian Point owner Entergy Nuclear Northeast.
"We had a breakthrough a couple of weeks ago - it was essentially a software issue, but this is the first full-volume test we've run to check it."
Across the portions of Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties within the plants' 10-mile emergency planning zone, the four-minute siren soundings went off about 10 a.m., as expected.
One siren failed in Rockland, one in Orange and four in Westchester, though Steets said spotters whom Entergy stationed at 140 of the 155 siren locations said only one of the failing sirens actually was silent.
Adam Stiebeling, Putnam's deputy commissioner of emergency services, said the fact that all of his county's sirens worked properly showed promise for the company's making its Aug. 24 deadline to have the system fully operational.
"We're on the road," Stiebeling said.
Dan Greeley, Stiebeling's counterpart in Rockland, confirmed the siren results, calling the test "a step in the right direction."
Another full-volume test is scheduled for Tuesday about 11 a.m.
Indian Point has less than two weeks to make sure that its $15 million siren system is working. The system is designed to improve on the decades-old air raid-type sirens, which will remain in place until the new system is fully operational.
Entergy has already missed two deadlines - Jan. 30 and April 15 - and had to pay $130,000 for the second transgression. It has yet to be decided what sanctions the Nuclear Regulatory Commission might impose should a third deadline come and go without success.
The company has been going back and forth with federal regulators about whether individual siren volumes were loud enough to cover each area as designed. That may end up as the primary stumbling block for Entergy to overcome.
NRC officials monitored yesterday's test, and one of them in the field agreed that the volume of the siren he heard was "quite loud."
The company also took background noise readings before and after the test, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.
Steets said nuclear plant officials were working to supply the Federal Emergency Management Agency with volume data that were acceptable to the agency. FEMA must sign off on the project before the NRC will accept it.
Steets said company officials remain confident the system will be working properly by Aug. 24.
Reach Greg Clary at gclary@lohud.com or 914-696-8566.
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Anyone have any facts? How many people in the US died last year from working with or using nuclear energy? How many people in the US died last year from working with or using fossil fuels? Should we include the coal miners that are down in the mine right now?
Posted by: concernedvoter on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:49 pm
Here's Some Advice For All You Nit-Wits Who Have Nothing Better To Do Then Whine About Indian Point....MOVE! The Majority Of You People Bitching About The Plant Knew It Was There Before You Bought Your House In The First Place.So Why Complain Now? Pull Up Stakes And Move To Some Town Or City With A Nasty Fossil Fired Plant And Die Of Lung Cancer.
Posted by: Tuna on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:26 pm
POLL RESULT DO YOU THINK THE NRC SHOULD RE-LICENSE THE INDIAN POINT POWER PLANT? NO...............61% YES..............39% A GOOD POLL IS WORTH REPEATING.
J WAYNE LEONARD C E O ENTERGY HEADQUATERS
639 LOYOLA AVE
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70113
PHONE : 504-576-4000
FAX : 504-576-4428
NUKE PLANTS= MUTANTS
Posted by: ball on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:15 pm
POLL RESULT DO YOU THINK THAT THE TONE OF THE NEW SIRENS IS AS MESMERIZING AS HENDRIX's "STAR SPANGLED BANNER" SOLO AT WOODSTOCK ? DEFINITELY..........169% I'M NOT SURE......-6% J. Wayne Leonard - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Leo Denault - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Curt L. H‚bert - Jr. Executive Vice President, External Affairs; former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chair and Hill & Knowlton vice-president William E. Madison - Sr. Vice President, Human Resources and Administration Mark T. Savoff - Executive Vice President, Operations Robert Sloan - Executive Vice President & General Counsel Richard Smith - Group President, Utility Operations Gary Taylor - Chief Executive Officer - Entergy Nuclear Renae Conley - President & CEO, Entergy Louisiana Joe Domino - President & CEO, Entergy Texas Hugh McDonald - President & CEO, Entergy Arkansas Rod West - President & CEO, Entergy New Orleans Carolyn Shanks - President & CEO, Entergy Mississippi Michael Kansler - President, Entergy Nuclear Northeast John R. McGaha - President, Entergy Nuclear South Michael D. Bakewell - Senior Vice President, Fossil Operations DID YOU REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR THORAZINE BEFORE THE RALLY ? OH..... THERE IS NO RALLY...?? OH.... YOURE SITTING HOME ALONE, POSTING NONSENSE AGAIN? MAYBE THE THORAZINE'S NOT WORKING!Posted by: VP_VP on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:02 pm
POLL RESULT DO YOU THINK THE SOUND OF THE NEW INDIAN POINT EMERGENCY SIREN SYSTEM IS MORE EFFECTIVE ? NO............61% YES...............39%
J WAYNE LEONARD CEO ENTERGY HEADQUATERS
639 LOYOLA AVE
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70113
PHONE: 504-576-4000
FAX: 504-576-4428
DID YOU REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR POTTASIUM IODIDE PILL TODAY ?
Posted by: ball on Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:21 pm
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 12, 2007)
BUCHANAN -Indian Point's latest test of its new emergency alert system yesterday found only six out of 155 sirens failing to work properly.
That's a 96 percent success rate, and the nuclear plants' officials said it is important because the exercise relied exclusively on radio-activated triggers that haven't worked in previous tests.
"This is a big step for us, because the radio-activation method has been a very difficult problem," said Jim Steets, spokesman for Indian Point owner Entergy Nuclear Northeast.
"We had a breakthrough a couple of weeks ago - it was essentially a software issue, but this is the first full-volume test we've run to check it."
Across the portions of Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties within the plants' 10-mile emergency planning zone, the four-minute siren soundings went off about 10 a.m., as expected.
One siren failed in Rockland, one in Orange and four in Westchester, though Steets said spotters whom Entergy stationed at 140 of the 155 siren locations said only one of the failing sirens actually was silent.
Adam Stiebeling, Putnam's deputy commissioner of emergency services, said the fact that all of his county's sirens worked properly showed promise for the company's making its Aug. 24 deadline to have the system fully operational.
"We're on the road," Stiebeling said.
Dan Greeley, Stiebeling's counterpart in Rockland, confirmed the siren results, calling the test "a step in the right direction."
Another full-volume test is scheduled for Tuesday about 11 a.m.
Indian Point has less than two weeks to make sure that its $15 million siren system is working. The system is designed to improve on the decades-old air raid-type sirens, which will remain in place until the new system is fully operational.
Entergy has already missed two deadlines - Jan. 30 and April 15 - and had to pay $130,000 for the second transgression. It has yet to be decided what sanctions the Nuclear Regulatory Commission might impose should a third deadline come and go without success.
The company has been going back and forth with federal regulators about whether individual siren volumes were loud enough to cover each area as designed. That may end up as the primary stumbling block for Entergy to overcome.
NRC officials monitored yesterday's test, and one of them in the field agreed that the volume of the siren he heard was "quite loud."
The company also took background noise readings before and after the test, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.
Steets said nuclear plant officials were working to supply the Federal Emergency Management Agency with volume data that were acceptable to the agency. FEMA must sign off on the project before the NRC will accept it.
Steets said company officials remain confident the system will be working properly by Aug. 24.
Reach Greg Clary at gclary@lohud.com or 914-696-8566.
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Anyone have any facts? How many people in the US died last year from working with or using nuclear energy? How many people in the US died last year from working with or using fossil fuels? Should we include the coal miners that are down in the mine right now?
Posted by: concernedvoter on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:49 pm
Here's Some Advice For All You Nit-Wits Who Have Nothing Better To Do Then Whine About Indian Point....MOVE! The Majority Of You People Bitching About The Plant Knew It Was There Before You Bought Your House In The First Place.So Why Complain Now? Pull Up Stakes And Move To Some Town Or City With A Nasty Fossil Fired Plant And Die Of Lung Cancer.
Posted by: Tuna on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:26 pm
POLL RESULT DO YOU THINK THE NRC SHOULD RE-LICENSE THE INDIAN POINT POWER PLANT? NO...............61% YES..............39% A GOOD POLL IS WORTH REPEATING.
J WAYNE LEONARD C E O ENTERGY HEADQUATERS
639 LOYOLA AVE
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70113
PHONE : 504-576-4000
FAX : 504-576-4428
NUKE PLANTS= MUTANTS
Posted by: ball on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:15 pm
POLL RESULT DO YOU THINK THAT THE TONE OF THE NEW SIRENS IS AS MESMERIZING AS HENDRIX's "STAR SPANGLED BANNER" SOLO AT WOODSTOCK ? DEFINITELY..........169% I'M NOT SURE......-6% J. Wayne Leonard - Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Leo Denault - Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Curt L. H‚bert - Jr. Executive Vice President, External Affairs; former Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chair and Hill & Knowlton vice-president William E. Madison - Sr. Vice President, Human Resources and Administration Mark T. Savoff - Executive Vice President, Operations Robert Sloan - Executive Vice President & General Counsel Richard Smith - Group President, Utility Operations Gary Taylor - Chief Executive Officer - Entergy Nuclear Renae Conley - President & CEO, Entergy Louisiana Joe Domino - President & CEO, Entergy Texas Hugh McDonald - President & CEO, Entergy Arkansas Rod West - President & CEO, Entergy New Orleans Carolyn Shanks - President & CEO, Entergy Mississippi Michael Kansler - President, Entergy Nuclear Northeast John R. McGaha - President, Entergy Nuclear South Michael D. Bakewell - Senior Vice President, Fossil Operations DID YOU REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR THORAZINE BEFORE THE RALLY ? OH..... THERE IS NO RALLY...?? OH.... YOURE SITTING HOME ALONE, POSTING NONSENSE AGAIN? MAYBE THE THORAZINE'S NOT WORKING!Posted by: VP_VP on Mon Aug 13, 2007 1:02 pm
POLL RESULT DO YOU THINK THE SOUND OF THE NEW INDIAN POINT EMERGENCY SIREN SYSTEM IS MORE EFFECTIVE ? NO............61% YES...............39%
J WAYNE LEONARD CEO ENTERGY HEADQUATERS
639 LOYOLA AVE
NEW ORLEANS, LA 70113
PHONE: 504-576-4000
FAX: 504-576-4428
DID YOU REMEMBER TO TAKE YOUR POTTASIUM IODIDE PILL TODAY ?
Posted by: ball on Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:21 pm
Indian Point siren test shows 96 percent success rate
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 11, 2007)
BUCHANAN -Indian Point's latest test of its new emergency alert system this morning found only six out of 155 sirens failing to work properly, a 96 percent success rate that the nuclear plant's officials said is important because it came using radio-trigger methods that hadn't worked in previous tests.
"This is a big step for us because the radio activation method has been a very difficult problem," said Jim Steets, spokesman for Indian Point owners Entergy Nuclear. "We had a breakthrough a few weeks ago - it was essentially a software issue, but this is the first full-volume test we've run to check it."
Across the portions of Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties within the 10-mile emergency planning zone around the nuclear plant, the four-minute sirens soundings went off about 10 a.m., as expected.
One siren failed in Rockland, one in Orange and four in Westchester, though Steets said spotters that Entergy stationed at 140 of the 155 siren locations said only one of the failing sirens stayed silent.
Adam Stiebeling, Putnam's deputy commissioner of emergency services said the fact that all of his county's sirens worked properly showed promise for the company making its Aug. 24 deadline to have the system fully operational.
"We're on the road," Stiebeling said.
His counterpart in Rockland, Dan Greeley, confirmed the siren results, calling the test "a step in the right direction"
Another full-volume test is scheduled for Tuesday, about 11 a.m.
Post a Comment View All Comments
POLL RESULT IN THE EVENT OF AN ACTUAL EMERGENCY AT INDIAN POINT, DO YOU THINK THE WARNING SYSTEMS WILL ACTUALLY WORK? NO..................76% YES.................24% J WAYNE LEONARD C E O ENTERGY HEADQUATERS 639 LOYOLA AVE NEW ORLEANS , LA 70113 PHONE: 504-576-4000 FAX-504-576-4428 IF WESTCHESTER IS A BLACK TUXEDO, WHY IS INDIAN POINT A BROWN PAIR OF SHOES?
Posted by: ball on Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:40 pm
I've written the next article for Greg Clary, so that he can go to the shore this weekend, and maybe have a life. (I know the TJN editorial board wants story continuity maintained here). 13 DAYS TO THE BIG NUCLEAR WITCHING HOUR Gannett, White Plains, 8/12/2007 Yes, only 12 pregnant days remain until the ultimate siren test determines whether Nita Lowey gets another $130,000 to spend on useless think-tank studies, Whether Entergy turns out to be Cinderella, and ride away in the big Pumpkin Coach with Rudy Giuliani (the white prince) to the big "License-Extension Ball", or turns out to be a siren-less dufus, sent back home in a donkey-cart. Odds are on Entergy squeaking through it all,... in fact the betting line in Vegas is 8-5 on Entergy, with the point spread giving them between 2 and 5 failed sirens overall, which would give them a passing grade with FEMA, but probably not with the concerned, outraged, and passionate anti community of 65 people who have dominated our politics hereabouts for 7 years, and intend to keep things that way! Jim Steets, interviewed in the Entergy locker room this A.M., said "Our boys are fired up, all our scrimmages went great, and we have that grudge match feeling against Spano helping us dig way down inside and get it all....... Bring It On!!!" Andy Spano, interviewed by cell phone at a backroom poker game said: " Hack....hack.... Damn cigar smoke...... What did ya say??? Can't hear ya. I'll see that bet, and raise you $130,000 that you f*ck up again, Arkansas-boy!" We were not able to determine if Mr. Spano's remarks were pertinent to his poker game, to the siren controversy, (or to both). Meanwhile, as the witching hour approached, citizens noticed teams of men in white coats with clipboards, going from siren to siren at night in black SUV's with tinted windows, perhaps chanting the good luck incantations intended to make the ghost in each siren appear on cue, on the BIG DAY! Remember TJN, and News Channel 12 will be on hand, with an 11 camera setup (the largest Ch 12 ever mounted) to capture each squeaky wail (or the embarrassing silence) on the BIG WITCHING DAY, AUGUST 24. Remember, if you call in now, we have 2 sets of tickets (and a Gannett designer tote bag) for each lucky couple who answers the magic question correctly. Those lucky winners will get to sit at the RNN/Gannett dais with Richard French, Roger Witherspoon, and Nita Lowey. SO CALL IN NOW, DON'T WAIT. OUR INTERACTIVITY EDITORS ARE WAITING AT OUR ONE GANNETT DRIVE PHONE BANKS FOR YOUR CALLS REMEMBER....FREE COMPLIMENTARY TOILETRIES PACKETS WILL GO OUT TO THE FIRST TEN LUCKY CALLERS!!!
Posted by: VP_VP on Mon Aug 13, 2007 6:12 am
Here are the two reasons that evacuations seem unrealistic. 1) They will never be required and 2) There have only ever been two nuclear accidents. The one in the USA hurt zero (0) people. During that accident, a local small town Mayor, Robert Reid of Middletown, ordered his town evacuated, against the wishes of Pa. Governor Thornburg & the NRC. Because of his foolish panic, a lot of people were frightened. To avoid this ever happening again, NRC mandated an overall emergency plan, and all towns would have to buy in to it. Thus you have sirens. The sirens, and the plan itself, exist not so much because anyone thinks they will ever be needed, but rather to prevent foolish grandstanding by small-fry politicoes jumping out of place, leading the band, and causing a riot. Forces of obfuscation have suppressed this truth, trying to make everyone think an evac plan is expected to be real, and expected to function perfectly. It is not. It exists specifically to keep the power to evacuate in the hands of only the highest officials. It will never be needed. Since it will never be needed, and therefore never be used, it is neurotic worry-mongering of the highest order to actually dig down, and expose all its faults. It only exists to make Spano obey Spitzer, and not the other way around. After all, if small-fries, acting panicky, can lead America to run into the ocean like Lemmings, Income Tax collections might be way off, the next year!Posted by: VP_VP on Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:11 pm
HERE IS ANOTHER FACTUAL POLL RESULT ...... 61% FEEL THAT EVACUATION IS NOT WORKABLE ! J WAYNE LEONARD C.E.O. ENTERGY HEADQUATERS 639 LOYOLA AVE. NEW ORLEANS, La 70113 PHONE : 504-576-4000 FAX : 504-576-4428 PLUTONIUM IS FOREVER!..........1776 : THE DIRECTORS CUT
Posted by: ball on Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:36 am
I've written the next article for Greg Clary, so that he can go to the shore this weekend, and maybe have a life. (I know the TJN editorial board wants story continuity maintained here). 13 DAYS TO THE BIG NUCLEAR WITCHING HOUR Gannett, White Plains, 8/12/2007 Yes, only 12 pregnant days remain until the ultimate siren test determines whether Nita Lowey gets another $130,000 to spend on useless think-tank studies, Whether Entergy turns out to be Cinderella, and ride away in the big Pumpkin Coach with Rudy Giuliani (the white prince) to the big "License-Extension Ball", or turns out to be a siren-less dufus, sent back home in a donkey-cart. Odds are on Entergy squeaking through it all,... in fact the betting line in Vegas is 8-5 on Entergy, with the point spread giving them between 2 and 5 failed sirens overall, which would give them a passing grade with FEMA, but probably not with the concerned, outraged, and passionate anti community of 65 people who have dominated our politics hereabouts for 7 years, and intend to keep things that way! Jim Steets, interviewed in the Entergy locker room this A.M., said "Our boys are fired up, all our scrimmages went great, and we have that grudge match feeling against Spano helping us dig way down inside and get it all....... Bring It On!!!" Andy Spano, interviewed by cell phone at a backroom poker game said: " Hack....hack.... Damn cigar smoke...... What did ya say??? Can't hear ya. I'll see that bet, and raise you $130,000 that you f*ck up again, Arkansas-boy!" We were not able to determine if Mr. Spano's remarks were pertinent to his poker game, to the siren controversy, (or to both). Meanwhile, as the witching hour approached, citizens noticed teams of men in white coats with clipboards, going from siren to siren at night in black SUV's with tinted windows, perhaps chanting the good luck incantations intended to make the ghost in each siren appear on cue, on the BIG DAY! Remember TJN, and News Channel 12 will be on hand, with an 11 camera setup (the largest Ch 12 ever mounted) to capture each squeaky wail (or the embarrassing silence) on the BIG WITCHING DAY, AUGUST 24. Remember, if you call in now, we have 2 sets of tickets (and a Gannett designer tote bag) for each lucky couple who answers the magic question correctly. Those lucky winners will get to sit at the RNN/Gannett dais with Richard French, Roger Witherspoon, and Nita Lowey. SO CALL IN NOW, DON'T WAIT. OUR INTERACTIVITY EDITORS ARE WAITING AT OUR ONE GANNETT DRIVE PHONE BANKS FOR YOUR CALLS!!!
Posted by: VP_VP on Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:24 am
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 11, 2007)
BUCHANAN -Indian Point's latest test of its new emergency alert system this morning found only six out of 155 sirens failing to work properly, a 96 percent success rate that the nuclear plant's officials said is important because it came using radio-trigger methods that hadn't worked in previous tests.
"This is a big step for us because the radio activation method has been a very difficult problem," said Jim Steets, spokesman for Indian Point owners Entergy Nuclear. "We had a breakthrough a few weeks ago - it was essentially a software issue, but this is the first full-volume test we've run to check it."
Across the portions of Westchester, Putnam, Rockland and Orange counties within the 10-mile emergency planning zone around the nuclear plant, the four-minute sirens soundings went off about 10 a.m., as expected.
One siren failed in Rockland, one in Orange and four in Westchester, though Steets said spotters that Entergy stationed at 140 of the 155 siren locations said only one of the failing sirens stayed silent.
Adam Stiebeling, Putnam's deputy commissioner of emergency services said the fact that all of his county's sirens worked properly showed promise for the company making its Aug. 24 deadline to have the system fully operational.
"We're on the road," Stiebeling said.
His counterpart in Rockland, Dan Greeley, confirmed the siren results, calling the test "a step in the right direction"
Another full-volume test is scheduled for Tuesday, about 11 a.m.
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POLL RESULT IN THE EVENT OF AN ACTUAL EMERGENCY AT INDIAN POINT, DO YOU THINK THE WARNING SYSTEMS WILL ACTUALLY WORK? NO..................76% YES.................24% J WAYNE LEONARD C E O ENTERGY HEADQUATERS 639 LOYOLA AVE NEW ORLEANS , LA 70113 PHONE: 504-576-4000 FAX-504-576-4428 IF WESTCHESTER IS A BLACK TUXEDO, WHY IS INDIAN POINT A BROWN PAIR OF SHOES?
Posted by: ball on Mon Aug 13, 2007 12:40 pm
I've written the next article for Greg Clary, so that he can go to the shore this weekend, and maybe have a life. (I know the TJN editorial board wants story continuity maintained here). 13 DAYS TO THE BIG NUCLEAR WITCHING HOUR Gannett, White Plains, 8/12/2007 Yes, only 12 pregnant days remain until the ultimate siren test determines whether Nita Lowey gets another $130,000 to spend on useless think-tank studies, Whether Entergy turns out to be Cinderella, and ride away in the big Pumpkin Coach with Rudy Giuliani (the white prince) to the big "License-Extension Ball", or turns out to be a siren-less dufus, sent back home in a donkey-cart. Odds are on Entergy squeaking through it all,... in fact the betting line in Vegas is 8-5 on Entergy, with the point spread giving them between 2 and 5 failed sirens overall, which would give them a passing grade with FEMA, but probably not with the concerned, outraged, and passionate anti community of 65 people who have dominated our politics hereabouts for 7 years, and intend to keep things that way! Jim Steets, interviewed in the Entergy locker room this A.M., said "Our boys are fired up, all our scrimmages went great, and we have that grudge match feeling against Spano helping us dig way down inside and get it all....... Bring It On!!!" Andy Spano, interviewed by cell phone at a backroom poker game said: " Hack....hack.... Damn cigar smoke...... What did ya say??? Can't hear ya. I'll see that bet, and raise you $130,000 that you f*ck up again, Arkansas-boy!" We were not able to determine if Mr. Spano's remarks were pertinent to his poker game, to the siren controversy, (or to both). Meanwhile, as the witching hour approached, citizens noticed teams of men in white coats with clipboards, going from siren to siren at night in black SUV's with tinted windows, perhaps chanting the good luck incantations intended to make the ghost in each siren appear on cue, on the BIG DAY! Remember TJN, and News Channel 12 will be on hand, with an 11 camera setup (the largest Ch 12 ever mounted) to capture each squeaky wail (or the embarrassing silence) on the BIG WITCHING DAY, AUGUST 24. Remember, if you call in now, we have 2 sets of tickets (and a Gannett designer tote bag) for each lucky couple who answers the magic question correctly. Those lucky winners will get to sit at the RNN/Gannett dais with Richard French, Roger Witherspoon, and Nita Lowey. SO CALL IN NOW, DON'T WAIT. OUR INTERACTIVITY EDITORS ARE WAITING AT OUR ONE GANNETT DRIVE PHONE BANKS FOR YOUR CALLS REMEMBER....FREE COMPLIMENTARY TOILETRIES PACKETS WILL GO OUT TO THE FIRST TEN LUCKY CALLERS!!!
Posted by: VP_VP on Mon Aug 13, 2007 6:12 am
Here are the two reasons that evacuations seem unrealistic. 1) They will never be required and 2) There have only ever been two nuclear accidents. The one in the USA hurt zero (0) people. During that accident, a local small town Mayor, Robert Reid of Middletown, ordered his town evacuated, against the wishes of Pa. Governor Thornburg & the NRC. Because of his foolish panic, a lot of people were frightened. To avoid this ever happening again, NRC mandated an overall emergency plan, and all towns would have to buy in to it. Thus you have sirens. The sirens, and the plan itself, exist not so much because anyone thinks they will ever be needed, but rather to prevent foolish grandstanding by small-fry politicoes jumping out of place, leading the band, and causing a riot. Forces of obfuscation have suppressed this truth, trying to make everyone think an evac plan is expected to be real, and expected to function perfectly. It is not. It exists specifically to keep the power to evacuate in the hands of only the highest officials. It will never be needed. Since it will never be needed, and therefore never be used, it is neurotic worry-mongering of the highest order to actually dig down, and expose all its faults. It only exists to make Spano obey Spitzer, and not the other way around. After all, if small-fries, acting panicky, can lead America to run into the ocean like Lemmings, Income Tax collections might be way off, the next year!Posted by: VP_VP on Sun Aug 12, 2007 6:11 pm
HERE IS ANOTHER FACTUAL POLL RESULT ...... 61% FEEL THAT EVACUATION IS NOT WORKABLE ! J WAYNE LEONARD C.E.O. ENTERGY HEADQUATERS 639 LOYOLA AVE. NEW ORLEANS, La 70113 PHONE : 504-576-4000 FAX : 504-576-4428 PLUTONIUM IS FOREVER!..........1776 : THE DIRECTORS CUT
Posted by: ball on Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:36 am
I've written the next article for Greg Clary, so that he can go to the shore this weekend, and maybe have a life. (I know the TJN editorial board wants story continuity maintained here). 13 DAYS TO THE BIG NUCLEAR WITCHING HOUR Gannett, White Plains, 8/12/2007 Yes, only 12 pregnant days remain until the ultimate siren test determines whether Nita Lowey gets another $130,000 to spend on useless think-tank studies, Whether Entergy turns out to be Cinderella, and ride away in the big Pumpkin Coach with Rudy Giuliani (the white prince) to the big "License-Extension Ball", or turns out to be a siren-less dufus, sent back home in a donkey-cart. Odds are on Entergy squeaking through it all,... in fact the betting line in Vegas is 8-5 on Entergy, with the point spread giving them between 2 and 5 failed sirens overall, which would give them a passing grade with FEMA, but probably not with the concerned, outraged, and passionate anti community of 65 people who have dominated our politics hereabouts for 7 years, and intend to keep things that way! Jim Steets, interviewed in the Entergy locker room this A.M., said "Our boys are fired up, all our scrimmages went great, and we have that grudge match feeling against Spano helping us dig way down inside and get it all....... Bring It On!!!" Andy Spano, interviewed by cell phone at a backroom poker game said: " Hack....hack.... Damn cigar smoke...... What did ya say??? Can't hear ya. I'll see that bet, and raise you $130,000 that you f*ck up again, Arkansas-boy!" We were not able to determine if Mr. Spano's remarks were pertinent to his poker game, to the siren controversy, (or to both). Meanwhile, as the witching hour approached, citizens noticed teams of men in white coats with clipboards, going from siren to siren at night in black SUV's with tinted windows, perhaps chanting the good luck incantations intended to make the ghost in each siren appear on cue, on the BIG DAY! Remember TJN, and News Channel 12 will be on hand, with an 11 camera setup (the largest Ch 12 ever mounted) to capture each squeaky wail (or the embarrassing silence) on the BIG WITCHING DAY, AUGUST 24. Remember, if you call in now, we have 2 sets of tickets (and a Gannett designer tote bag) for each lucky couple who answers the magic question correctly. Those lucky winners will get to sit at the RNN/Gannett dais with Richard French, Roger Witherspoon, and Nita Lowey. SO CALL IN NOW, DON'T WAIT. OUR INTERACTIVITY EDITORS ARE WAITING AT OUR ONE GANNETT DRIVE PHONE BANKS FOR YOUR CALLS!!!
Posted by: VP_VP on Sun Aug 12, 2007 11:24 am
Sleepy Hollow hospital needs 200 'victims' for disaster drill
Sleepy Hollow hospital needs 200 'victims' for disaster drill
By GERALD MCKINSTRYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 10, 2007)
SLEEPY HOLLOW - With the threat of terrorism always present, emergency responders know they need to be ready. And for that they need to practice on victims, or in this instance, volunteers.
Phelps Memorial Hospital Center is having a disaster drill Aug. 25 at its emergency center, which includes a decontamination unit. The hospital needs 100-200 volunteers to play the role of attack victims, Jeff Meade, director of the center for emergency education at the hospital, said recently.
"We're looking at new and potentially lethal threats," Meade said of the importance of such drills. "It's really to determine how many people are affected and how many we can decontaminate."
Phelps' decontamination unit, the first stop for anyone exposed in a chemical, biological or radiological incident, essentially cleanses people of toxins so they can enter the hospital for treatment. The unit is a way for responders to keep potentially hazardous materials and toxins out of the emergency room during a disaster.
"People may be contaminated and need to be treated," said Meade, also a member of Westchester County's Hazardous Materials Response Team. "This is the new standard. This is what the world expects today."
Meade said the emergency center held a similar drill three years ago and hospital officials believed it was important to conduct another one because of ongoing concerns about terrorism.
Its proximity to the Indian Point nuclear power plants in Buchanan is also a reason responders must be ready.
The exact emergency scenario has not yet been created, Meade said, although it will replicate the aftermath of an attack or industrial explosion.
Sleepy Hollow's fire department and ambulance services will be there to help the medical staff.
The volunteers, Meade said, will get a free lunch and might even learn a few things. But mostly, he said, the drill is to help emergency responders.
By GERALD MCKINSTRYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: August 10, 2007)
SLEEPY HOLLOW - With the threat of terrorism always present, emergency responders know they need to be ready. And for that they need to practice on victims, or in this instance, volunteers.
Phelps Memorial Hospital Center is having a disaster drill Aug. 25 at its emergency center, which includes a decontamination unit. The hospital needs 100-200 volunteers to play the role of attack victims, Jeff Meade, director of the center for emergency education at the hospital, said recently.
"We're looking at new and potentially lethal threats," Meade said of the importance of such drills. "It's really to determine how many people are affected and how many we can decontaminate."
Phelps' decontamination unit, the first stop for anyone exposed in a chemical, biological or radiological incident, essentially cleanses people of toxins so they can enter the hospital for treatment. The unit is a way for responders to keep potentially hazardous materials and toxins out of the emergency room during a disaster.
"People may be contaminated and need to be treated," said Meade, also a member of Westchester County's Hazardous Materials Response Team. "This is the new standard. This is what the world expects today."
Meade said the emergency center held a similar drill three years ago and hospital officials believed it was important to conduct another one because of ongoing concerns about terrorism.
Its proximity to the Indian Point nuclear power plants in Buchanan is also a reason responders must be ready.
The exact emergency scenario has not yet been created, Meade said, although it will replicate the aftermath of an attack or industrial explosion.
Sleepy Hollow's fire department and ambulance services will be there to help the medical staff.
The volunteers, Meade said, will get a free lunch and might even learn a few things. But mostly, he said, the drill is to help emergency responders.
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