NRC: Indian Point fines won't go to county coffers

NRC: Indian Point fines won't go to county coffers
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 12, 2007)
WHITE PLAINS - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has rejected Westchester County's request that Indian Point's $130,000 fine for failing to install emergency sirens on time be spread among the four counties within 10 miles of the nuclear reactors to defray emergency preparation costs.
"It's government 1, the people 0," said Susan Tolchin, chief adviser to Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano. The NRC was "right to give Entergy a penalty on this, but the bottom line is, funnel that money to the counties whose taxpayers are paying for emergency services."
The federal nuclear regulators fined Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the owner of Indian Point, for missing its April 15 deadline to install a new emergency alert system.
The company has since vowed to have the sirens operating by August. In the meantime, residents of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties must rely on a decades-old set of 156 sirens with a spotty performance record in the past two years.
Indian Point's siren system is used to alert residents of an emergency at the plant and to signal them to check their televisions or radios for further instructions.
The 150 new sirens, which will have backup battery power and can be sounded through cell antennas or radio systems, eventually will replace the existing system.
In a letter dated Friday, Cynthia Carpenter, director of the NRC's Office of Enforcement, said the agency was required to deposit the fine money into the U.S. Treasury rather than send it to local governments.
"The NRC does not have the authority to redirect such funds for nonappropriated programs," Carpenter wrote to Anthony Sutton, Westchester County's commissioner of emergency services. "As such, the NRC is unable to honor your request."
NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said the agency has no latitude on the issue because of the federal Miscellaneous Receipts Act, which controls how money paid to the U.S. government must be handled.
"The Miscellaneous Receipts Act is designed to guarantee that Congress retains control of the public purse," Sheehan said. "It would take legislation to allow us to do this, and there isn't anything pending."
Tolchin said that the county would talk to its congressional representatives, who had already voiced their support of local municipalities receiving the fine money.
Entergy officials reiterated yesterday that the discussion of who ultimately gets the fine money doesn't involve them.
Sutton pressed the NRC in his May 15 letter to follow precedent that has allowed the Environmental Protection Agency to direct money elsewhere, but Sheehan said his agency's research showed that those transactions have not involved third parties.
Reach Greg Clary at 914-696-8566 or gclary@lohud.com.

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Susan Tolchin claims that it’s Government 1 the People 0, as if this is a game. From my perspective, Susan Tolchin represents government (bad government). Andrew Spano is government (also bad government). NRC, too, is government. Although in my book, the NRC is the only agency mentioned that is non-political and actually performs with integrity. Perhaps this is what irks pretend-to-be-greens so much. The NRC regulates based on their code of federal regulations (10CFR) and is (usually) not swayed by politics, but instead relies on facts.
Posted by: nuclear environmentalist on Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:20 pm

The old siren system is still operating, and the new siren system is also available. In effect, there are now two redundant siren systems. TJN implies that there is currently no siren system. Wrong, as usual.
Posted by: nuclear environmentalist on Tue Jun 12, 2007 5:43 am

Greg Clary writes: "In the meantime, residents of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties must rely on a decades-old set of 156 sirens with a spotty performance record in the past two years." This is not quite the absolute truth. The old sirens have tested at 100% , during the last few periodic tests in spring 2007. Therefore saying "The people must rely on" implies some problem which isn't present. Moreover, no incident requiring the live use of the sirens has ever occurred, so they are more of an addendum, than a real protection of any kind, with or without battery backup. Everybody knows this, but the politico-journalistic complex feathers its own nest by harping on irrelevancies, and stoking the ashes of a long-burnt-out issue , all while allowing no new power plants to be built. Thus we see the local media aiding the local elected cadre to personally fail their duties to provide, while ineffectively whipping the only whipping boy left to them, the white elephant never-to-be-used siren system. In Ontario Canada, where the counties own the responsibility to provide emergency plans for their nuclear stations, a complete siren system was ordered, and delivered , but the county decided in a referendum that they would be too annoying and disruptive, so never installed them. In this same county, plans are under way for new Candu reactors, to meet expected power needs. Thus we see how municipalities NOT straitjacketed by the do-nothing Spano/TJN chokehold, are actually overcoming issues that seem to strangle and paralyze the Lower Hudson. Strange, isn't it?
Posted by: la_88 on Tue Jun 12, 2007 3:20 am