Plant's sirens startle residents
var isoPubDate = 'July 06, 2007'
July 06, 2007
Buchanan — A planned silent test of the Indian Point nuclear plants' emergency system gave residents a fright yesterday when an employee pushed the wrong button and set the sirens wailing.
"There was no emergency, but the sirens sounded for a couple of minutes," said Jim Steets, a spokesman for plant owner Entergy Nuclear.
"We didn't get any calls from residents, but Putnam County did and at least they were able to say it was an error," Steets said.
County officials received dozens of calls from scared residents when the 14 sirens in Putnam went off at about 10:45 a.m., said Adam Stiebeling, county deputy commissioner of emergency services.
The plants periodically test sirens spread through Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Orange counties.
While some sirens have failed in the past, Stiebeling said the good news in Thursday's incident was that, once activated, all 14 sirens did indeed work.
Friday, July 6, 2007
Indian Point's alarms go off in not-so-silent test
Indian Point's alarms go off in not-so-silent test
BUCHANAN - A planned silent test of the Indian Point nuclear plants' emergency system gave residents a fright Thursday when an employee pushed the wrong button and set the sirens wailing.
"There was no emergency, but the sirens sounded for a couple of minutes," Jim Steets, a spokesman for plant owner Entergy Nuclear, said. "We didn't get any calls from residents, but Putnam County did and at least they were able to say it was an error."
County officials received dozens of calls from scared residents when the 14 sirens in Putnam went off about 10:45 a.m., said Adam Stiebeling, county deputy commissioner of emergency services.
While some sirens have failed in the past, Stiebeling said the good news in Thursday's incident was that, once activated, all 14 sirens worked.
BUCHANAN - A planned silent test of the Indian Point nuclear plants' emergency system gave residents a fright Thursday when an employee pushed the wrong button and set the sirens wailing.
"There was no emergency, but the sirens sounded for a couple of minutes," Jim Steets, a spokesman for plant owner Entergy Nuclear, said. "We didn't get any calls from residents, but Putnam County did and at least they were able to say it was an error."
County officials received dozens of calls from scared residents when the 14 sirens in Putnam went off about 10:45 a.m., said Adam Stiebeling, county deputy commissioner of emergency services.
While some sirens have failed in the past, Stiebeling said the good news in Thursday's incident was that, once activated, all 14 sirens worked.
Indian Point siren test in Putnam not so silent
Indian Point siren test in Putnam not so silent
By GREG CLARY
(Original publication: July 5, 2007)
The Journal News
Putnam County residents who may have heard Indian Point's emergency sirens sound about 10:15 a.m. today can rest easy - nuclear plant officials were conducting what was supposed to be a silent test and inadvertantly pushed the wrong button.
"There was no emergency, but the sirens sounded for a couple of minutes," said Jim Steets, a spokesman for Indian Point. "We didn't get any calls from residents, but Putnam County did and at least they were able to say it was an error."
Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns and operates Indian Point, is testing each of 150 new sirens it is installing in the evacuation zone that runs 10 miles in every direction from its Buchanan site.
The company is working to meet an August deadline to replace a decades-old system and has run into some glitches with radio frequences and other technological problems that have twice delayed the new system.
Post a Comment View All Comments
Again, again, again and again with the sirens!Posted by: ed on Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:31 pm
I dont have much faith in them when they cant even push the right button!Posted by: Matt on Thu Jul 05, 2007 4:26 pm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear anactualcitizen Welcome to the real world of Entergy . Brought to you by Burston-Marsteller ( Today's myth, tomorrows tragedy )Posted by: ball on Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:21 pm
Just another little mistake. Just another little flipped switch. Let's face it when the level of incompetence reaches ground zero like it has at Indian Point it means they know they have the community by the short hairs. Do you think these sirens would be sounding off if Entergy president Michael Kansler actually lived in Buchanan? Okay, if we have to live with nuclear power give them a contract of 5 years or less. That's more than they deserve. After all if you had an employee working for you, with Indian Points track record, would you sign them up for a 20 year contract? PLUTONIUM IS FOREVER!Posted by: ball on Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:00 pm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I just find this a little funny .... the opening statement on that site about how important spreading facts is .... "Entergy Nuclear Northeast has prepared this website to serve as a reliable source of information regarding our Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, N.Y. On this website we present FACTS to show that the plants are operating safely, that they function under the highest levels of security, and that they are a vital part of New York's energy marketplace. We feel citizens should have access to FACTS so they can form opinions about Indian Point based on REASON rather than emotion."
----------------
And it is followed up immediately with this gem .... "Statement made by Actor Paul Newman regarding his recent tour of Indian Point on May 21, 2007" Are they serious? THE FACTS (as interpreted by Paul Newman)? They should use this site for information, not marketing BS.Posted by: anactualcitizen on Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:45 pm
By GREG CLARY
(Original publication: July 5, 2007)
The Journal News
Putnam County residents who may have heard Indian Point's emergency sirens sound about 10:15 a.m. today can rest easy - nuclear plant officials were conducting what was supposed to be a silent test and inadvertantly pushed the wrong button.
"There was no emergency, but the sirens sounded for a couple of minutes," said Jim Steets, a spokesman for Indian Point. "We didn't get any calls from residents, but Putnam County did and at least they were able to say it was an error."
Entergy Nuclear Northeast, which owns and operates Indian Point, is testing each of 150 new sirens it is installing in the evacuation zone that runs 10 miles in every direction from its Buchanan site.
The company is working to meet an August deadline to replace a decades-old system and has run into some glitches with radio frequences and other technological problems that have twice delayed the new system.
Post a Comment View All Comments
Again, again, again and again with the sirens!Posted by: ed on Thu Jul 05, 2007 5:31 pm
I dont have much faith in them when they cant even push the right button!Posted by: Matt on Thu Jul 05, 2007 4:26 pm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Dear anactualcitizen Welcome to the real world of Entergy . Brought to you by Burston-Marsteller ( Today's myth, tomorrows tragedy )Posted by: ball on Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:21 pm
Just another little mistake. Just another little flipped switch. Let's face it when the level of incompetence reaches ground zero like it has at Indian Point it means they know they have the community by the short hairs. Do you think these sirens would be sounding off if Entergy president Michael Kansler actually lived in Buchanan? Okay, if we have to live with nuclear power give them a contract of 5 years or less. That's more than they deserve. After all if you had an employee working for you, with Indian Points track record, would you sign them up for a 20 year contract? PLUTONIUM IS FOREVER!Posted by: ball on Thu Jul 05, 2007 2:00 pm
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
I just find this a little funny .... the opening statement on that site about how important spreading facts is .... "Entergy Nuclear Northeast has prepared this website to serve as a reliable source of information regarding our Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, N.Y. On this website we present FACTS to show that the plants are operating safely, that they function under the highest levels of security, and that they are a vital part of New York's energy marketplace. We feel citizens should have access to FACTS so they can form opinions about Indian Point based on REASON rather than emotion."
----------------
And it is followed up immediately with this gem .... "Statement made by Actor Paul Newman regarding his recent tour of Indian Point on May 21, 2007" Are they serious? THE FACTS (as interpreted by Paul Newman)? They should use this site for information, not marketing BS.Posted by: anactualcitizen on Thu Jul 05, 2007 1:45 pm
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Emotions stirred as relicensing hearings begin
Indian Point
Emotions stirred as relicensing hearings begin
By Abby Luby
Union members and Entergy employees showed up in force last week to support the relicensing application of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, responding with boos and jeers to those opposing the plant’s continued operation. The divisive crowd of over 400 people came to the first public meeting held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week in what promises to be a contentious battle to extend the plant’s operating license.Crowded into the banquet hall at Colonial Terrace in Cortlandt Manor, both sides aired their views for more than two hours on the pros and cons of allowing the plant to operate 20 more years. The meeting kicked off the lengthy process overseen by the NRC, the federal oversight agency who is reviewing the renewal application submitted by Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the plant owner. The application to extend the operating license is for reactor units 1 and 2, for which the current license expires in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Entergy submitted the application in April.
Jobs at Indian Point
Emotions stirred as relicensing hearings begin
By Abby Luby
Al Grioli from the Carpenters union
at the NRC meeting on
Indian Point relicensing
Union members and Entergy employees showed up in force last week to support the relicensing application of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, responding with boos and jeers to those opposing the plant’s continued operation. The divisive crowd of over 400 people came to the first public meeting held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) last week in what promises to be a contentious battle to extend the plant’s operating license.Crowded into the banquet hall at Colonial Terrace in Cortlandt Manor, both sides aired their views for more than two hours on the pros and cons of allowing the plant to operate 20 more years. The meeting kicked off the lengthy process overseen by the NRC, the federal oversight agency who is reviewing the renewal application submitted by Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the plant owner. The application to extend the operating license is for reactor units 1 and 2, for which the current license expires in 2013 and 2015, respectively. Entergy submitted the application in April.
Jobs at Indian Point
The Coalition of Labor for Energy and Jobs held a press conference in an adjacent hall just before the meeting. Spokespersons urged some 200 union members to speak out in support of Indian Point. Jerry Connolly, Business Manager of the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, said he had worked at the plant in 1964. “This plant supplies reliable energy to the city and our members depend on Indian Point for jobs,” Connolly said.The coalition is made up by the Boilermakers Local 5, Millwrights and Machine Erectors Local 740 and Utility Workers 1-2. They were joined by the carpenters union and Teamsters International. Many were wearing T-shirts and caps and carrying signs reading “Right4NY.” Bob Seeger, business agent for Millwrights & Machinery ,told the men, “We’re not sending members into a place that’s not safe. We can’t afford to lose 2,000 megawatts of electricity (a day). If we did, on a day like today, our beer would get warm, our ice cream would melt and the air conditioners wouldn’t run.”The forum was slated as an information meeting to familiarize the public with the re-licensing process. The NRC project manager for Indian Point's relicensing application, Bo Pham, opened the public meeting saying the process could take up to two years.“We do not duplicate the regulatory process in the renewal process,” explained Pham, making clear that re-licensing only looks at how Entergy has managed the aging plant’s safety systems and the design and operation of structural components. Pham also stressed that the application was in its preliminary review and has not been formally accepted by the NRC.
Local Reps Buchanan Mayor Daniel O’Neill lauded the plant’s safety and advantages over a fossil fuel plant. “I can see the plant from my backyard and the people of Buchanan are the ones who live with the plant every day,” he said. “If this was a fossil fuel plant it would add to health problems. Nuclear power is so much better in terms of safety and environment.”To counter, Congressmen Eliot Engel and John Hall sent representatives who expressed concern about the ongoing radioactive leaks of Tritium and Strontium-90. Hall’s spokesperson, Susan Speer, cited plant safety as the critical issue. “The plant is located near eight percent of the population of the United States and each week brings another mishap,” Speer said on behalf of Hall.Hall has introduced “The Nuclear Power Licensing Reform Act” to oversee the relicensing process by Congress. Hall’s prepared statement said “Indian Point should not operate in a vacuum and neither should the relicensing process.” Engel spokesperson Joe O’Brien added that “Indian Point is a disaster waiting to happen.”Former Assemblyman Jerry Kremer, who writes opinion pieces for Newsday supporting nuclear power, said “Indian Point is more important than ever because we need the power and we can’t build a new plant until 2012.” The former assemblyman from Long Beach and member of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance said nuclear power plants don’t release any greenhouse gases. He added that Indian Point provides over 1,000 jobs, eliciting thunderous applause from union members. Clean Energy?But others at the meeting from grassroots coalitions contended that nuclear power causes greenhouse gases and carbon emissions.“I’ve met union people who are looking at alternative energy because they know the jobs it produces,” said Marilyn Elie, member of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition. “That’s the future.” Elie asked Rani Franovich, Branch Chief in the NRC’s Division of License Renewal, if the NRC has acknowledged that green house gases produced by the nuclear fuel cycle. Franovich said that it is mentioned in the NRC’s generic environmental study. “But I don’t have it in front of me so we will actually have to come back to that question.” Elie persisted by responding, “Does the NRC’s generic environmental study validate that the nuclear fuel cycle releases green house gases?” “Yes, it does,” answered Franovich. Later on, Elie said that greenhouse gases are released in both the production of fuel rods and the refining of uranium in coal fired plants.Concerned Indian Point opponents asked why the emergency evacuation plan, considered unworkable because of the plant’s proximity to dense population areas, was not part of the relicensing application.Katonah resident Peter Harckham, who lives just outside the evacuation emergency planning zone, said he was one of the 40,000 people that had to evacuate the Harrisburg area during the meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979. “We’ve had evacuation experiences since then with 9/11 and Katrina,” said Harckham. “This is serious stuff. You should be putting everything on the table, not looking at only a few major components [of the plant’s operation] as business as usual.”Union members were joined by Entergy workers wearing red T-shirts and caps emblazoned with “Entergy.” Although both Entergy employees and union members responded to statements with boos and cheers, few got up to speak. One that did was James Slevin of the Business Agent Utility Workers Union of America. “You can’t cut off this power because it can’t be replaced,” said Slevin. “Nuclear power is here and it is environmentally clean and inexpensive.”Phil Musegaas, of the environmental group Riverkeeper, referred to a letter to the NRC several weeks ago requesting the agency reject Entergy’s application because it was incomplete. “We have yet to hear back from the NRC, so we are repeating our request here in public,” he said. Musegaas asked the NRC about the consideration of spent fuel storage on site at the Buchanan plant as part of the renewal process. “Is there enough space on site to accommodate all the spent fuel as well as 1,000 tons of spent fuel being produced during the relicensing period?” NRC’s Pham said he didn’t have the answer. “I don’t know if anyone has looked if space is available for spent fuel storage. I do know that Entergy’s position is that spent fuel can be safely stored on site. I’ll have to get back to you on that.”There is currently over 1,500 tons of irradiated fuel stored in high-density pools at the Indian Point plants. The concern has been since 9/11 that the buildings housing the spent fuel are not designed to repel a terrorist attack. Entergy said in 2003 that its intention was to build on-site storage facilities by late 2007, but to date, is behind schedule.Musegaas slammed Entergy for polluting the Hudson River with super heated water from a discharge canal which, he said, was decimating the river’s fish population. “The Hudson River is the main recipient of Indian Point’s pollution,” said Musegaas. “This river does not belong to Entergy as their private dumping ground for radioactive and super heated water that will contaminate our environment for generations. The Hudson River belongs to all of us, it’s part of the public trust and it belongs to all Americans, including the union members that are here.”
New meeting updating siren systemEntergy pledged last year to rebuild an emergency siren system by January 2007. The company was unable to get some system components to work and failed to meet a second deadline extension to complete the four county siren system. The NRC imposed a one-time fine of $30,000, a sum plants are fined on a daily basis. The NRC has requested a meeting with Entergy to discuss technical issues of the siren system, such as dates for testing and completion for the new Emergency Notification System (ENS) with backup power.
Local Reps Buchanan Mayor Daniel O’Neill lauded the plant’s safety and advantages over a fossil fuel plant. “I can see the plant from my backyard and the people of Buchanan are the ones who live with the plant every day,” he said. “If this was a fossil fuel plant it would add to health problems. Nuclear power is so much better in terms of safety and environment.”To counter, Congressmen Eliot Engel and John Hall sent representatives who expressed concern about the ongoing radioactive leaks of Tritium and Strontium-90. Hall’s spokesperson, Susan Speer, cited plant safety as the critical issue. “The plant is located near eight percent of the population of the United States and each week brings another mishap,” Speer said on behalf of Hall.Hall has introduced “The Nuclear Power Licensing Reform Act” to oversee the relicensing process by Congress. Hall’s prepared statement said “Indian Point should not operate in a vacuum and neither should the relicensing process.” Engel spokesperson Joe O’Brien added that “Indian Point is a disaster waiting to happen.”Former Assemblyman Jerry Kremer, who writes opinion pieces for Newsday supporting nuclear power, said “Indian Point is more important than ever because we need the power and we can’t build a new plant until 2012.” The former assemblyman from Long Beach and member of the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance said nuclear power plants don’t release any greenhouse gases. He added that Indian Point provides over 1,000 jobs, eliciting thunderous applause from union members. Clean Energy?But others at the meeting from grassroots coalitions contended that nuclear power causes greenhouse gases and carbon emissions.“I’ve met union people who are looking at alternative energy because they know the jobs it produces,” said Marilyn Elie, member of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition. “That’s the future.” Elie asked Rani Franovich, Branch Chief in the NRC’s Division of License Renewal, if the NRC has acknowledged that green house gases produced by the nuclear fuel cycle. Franovich said that it is mentioned in the NRC’s generic environmental study. “But I don’t have it in front of me so we will actually have to come back to that question.” Elie persisted by responding, “Does the NRC’s generic environmental study validate that the nuclear fuel cycle releases green house gases?” “Yes, it does,” answered Franovich. Later on, Elie said that greenhouse gases are released in both the production of fuel rods and the refining of uranium in coal fired plants.Concerned Indian Point opponents asked why the emergency evacuation plan, considered unworkable because of the plant’s proximity to dense population areas, was not part of the relicensing application.Katonah resident Peter Harckham, who lives just outside the evacuation emergency planning zone, said he was one of the 40,000 people that had to evacuate the Harrisburg area during the meltdown at Three Mile Island in 1979. “We’ve had evacuation experiences since then with 9/11 and Katrina,” said Harckham. “This is serious stuff. You should be putting everything on the table, not looking at only a few major components [of the plant’s operation] as business as usual.”Union members were joined by Entergy workers wearing red T-shirts and caps emblazoned with “Entergy.” Although both Entergy employees and union members responded to statements with boos and cheers, few got up to speak. One that did was James Slevin of the Business Agent Utility Workers Union of America. “You can’t cut off this power because it can’t be replaced,” said Slevin. “Nuclear power is here and it is environmentally clean and inexpensive.”Phil Musegaas, of the environmental group Riverkeeper, referred to a letter to the NRC several weeks ago requesting the agency reject Entergy’s application because it was incomplete. “We have yet to hear back from the NRC, so we are repeating our request here in public,” he said. Musegaas asked the NRC about the consideration of spent fuel storage on site at the Buchanan plant as part of the renewal process. “Is there enough space on site to accommodate all the spent fuel as well as 1,000 tons of spent fuel being produced during the relicensing period?” NRC’s Pham said he didn’t have the answer. “I don’t know if anyone has looked if space is available for spent fuel storage. I do know that Entergy’s position is that spent fuel can be safely stored on site. I’ll have to get back to you on that.”There is currently over 1,500 tons of irradiated fuel stored in high-density pools at the Indian Point plants. The concern has been since 9/11 that the buildings housing the spent fuel are not designed to repel a terrorist attack. Entergy said in 2003 that its intention was to build on-site storage facilities by late 2007, but to date, is behind schedule.Musegaas slammed Entergy for polluting the Hudson River with super heated water from a discharge canal which, he said, was decimating the river’s fish population. “The Hudson River is the main recipient of Indian Point’s pollution,” said Musegaas. “This river does not belong to Entergy as their private dumping ground for radioactive and super heated water that will contaminate our environment for generations. The Hudson River belongs to all of us, it’s part of the public trust and it belongs to all Americans, including the union members that are here.”
New meeting updating siren systemEntergy pledged last year to rebuild an emergency siren system by January 2007. The company was unable to get some system components to work and failed to meet a second deadline extension to complete the four county siren system. The NRC imposed a one-time fine of $30,000, a sum plants are fined on a daily basis. The NRC has requested a meeting with Entergy to discuss technical issues of the siren system, such as dates for testing and completion for the new Emergency Notification System (ENS) with backup power.
Sunday, July 1, 2007
School security plans upgraded yearly to handle the unexpected
School security plans upgraded yearly to handle the unexpected
By RANDI WEINERTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 1, 2007)
A quiet school year usually means one thing to the public and something different to school security.
To the public, it means a time when the fire alarms are scheduled, students are in class most days, and events across the country are the focus of detached coffee-klatsch discussions.
School security officials consider what hasn't happened in addition to what has: Strangers have not been permitted to wander unreported, children were kept safe from predators or criminals, and school evacuations have been without panic or injury.
"It's been an active year in terms of upping our preparation but quiet in terms of response," said Pearl River spokeswoman Sandy Cokeley. "At the elementary and middle level, we've put cameras in all the buildings, greeters at the door to log in everybody who comes into the building. Certain doors are locked. At the high school … we have a security company we use on the campus, we have monitors that walk the halls, cameras … and we conducted drills in all the buildings."
For more than a decade, the state has required schools to have emergency plans in place for any foreseeable occurrence, from a teacher going into labor to a sniper shooting into a kindergarten room. The state also requires the plans to be reviewed each year.
Technology and world events have forced schools to do more than review. With each new security breach - whether mass murder at Virginia Tech or senior pranks like taping alarm clocks to the walls at Hendrick Hudson High School - administrators pull the plans and modify.
"The state requires that you have an emergency plan and that it be reviewed every year," said Leonard Bernstein, North Rockland's coordinator of transportation and emergency management. "It's a lot of stuff, a lot of information, but we take this seriously."
Mary Frascone, whose children attend Ramapo Central schools, said that her district's commitment to safety began long before Sept. 11, 2001, and that it has her complete approval.
"Every building has a security guard and they meet every person who comes in. I feel very secure," she said. "A visible presence is very important to me. I feel when I walk in the building, by them stopping me and asking me who I am ensures that they stop everyone."
Local emergency plan uses have run the gamut, from evacuating a Nanuet school during a bomb hoax in the fall to text messaging 500 people that Nyack High School's graduation would be postponed a day because of thunderstorms.
Several districts used their emergency plan procedures to alert families that someone on the state's sex offender list had moved into the area. North Rockland and Pearl River districts both locked down elementary schools after police reported they were chasing a robber nearby, and East Ramapo schools did a lockdown in the spring when police chased a man accused of invading a Spring Valley home. Superintendent Mitchell Schwartz said the security plan "worked well."
"It was reassuring to see how smoothly it went," Schwartz said.
A barricaded gunman near Clarkstown North High School in the fall meant that police and school officials had to change bus routes and alert students and parents to the change, said Clarkstown Schools Superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan.
Clarkstown hired a safety consultant this year who evaluated all the schools and recommended several changes, including more drills and training. The district, like others, has locked most outside doors and placed security staff and greeters at the doors that are open. Grant money is being used to install swipe-card monitors on doors to control access.
"It's an unfortunate skill set to have to develop, but the changes in our culture and society have demanded it," Keller-Cogan said.
Cokeley said she borrowed an idea from Scarsdale schools to create bookmarks for staff and parents to tell them what to do in case the school put its emergency response plan into place. The parent bookmarks especially were needed, she said, because school personnel practice their parts in mock disaster drills, something parents don't do.
Rockland's eight public school districts have been changing safety plans as needed. Among the most recent: Nanuet has given walkie-talkies to security staff; South Orangetown will put cameras in all the school buses next year, and it hired a security firm for the front entrance of each school and to patrol the schools before and after hours. A prank fire drill in the spring was an orderly and quickly investigated occurrence, with students back in class in less than half an hour, Schools Superintendent Joseph Zambito said.
North Rockland schools just got in a new batch of potassium iodide pills to protect students and staff from radiation in case of disaster at Indian Point. The district's safety plan includes how to distribute the pills and how often they need to be replaced.
The Nyack district has money in next year's budget for five monitors on elementary school buses, has put cameras on all its buses, permits people to enter the elementary schools only by a buzzer worked from the school office, and is advertising for an independent security company to patrol its middle and high schools. It also upgraded its communication software to make sure community members and parents are alerted by e-mail and text messaging when needed. The text message about graduation worked extremely well, district spokeswoman Gail Fleur said.
East Ramapo, which is creating a new position for next year, a coordinator for security and safety, plans to place security cameras in each of the schools. The district also upgraded its informational alert capability to include computer and text messaging with the original phone calls.
By RANDI WEINERTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: July 1, 2007)
A quiet school year usually means one thing to the public and something different to school security.
To the public, it means a time when the fire alarms are scheduled, students are in class most days, and events across the country are the focus of detached coffee-klatsch discussions.
School security officials consider what hasn't happened in addition to what has: Strangers have not been permitted to wander unreported, children were kept safe from predators or criminals, and school evacuations have been without panic or injury.
"It's been an active year in terms of upping our preparation but quiet in terms of response," said Pearl River spokeswoman Sandy Cokeley. "At the elementary and middle level, we've put cameras in all the buildings, greeters at the door to log in everybody who comes into the building. Certain doors are locked. At the high school … we have a security company we use on the campus, we have monitors that walk the halls, cameras … and we conducted drills in all the buildings."
For more than a decade, the state has required schools to have emergency plans in place for any foreseeable occurrence, from a teacher going into labor to a sniper shooting into a kindergarten room. The state also requires the plans to be reviewed each year.
Technology and world events have forced schools to do more than review. With each new security breach - whether mass murder at Virginia Tech or senior pranks like taping alarm clocks to the walls at Hendrick Hudson High School - administrators pull the plans and modify.
"The state requires that you have an emergency plan and that it be reviewed every year," said Leonard Bernstein, North Rockland's coordinator of transportation and emergency management. "It's a lot of stuff, a lot of information, but we take this seriously."
Mary Frascone, whose children attend Ramapo Central schools, said that her district's commitment to safety began long before Sept. 11, 2001, and that it has her complete approval.
"Every building has a security guard and they meet every person who comes in. I feel very secure," she said. "A visible presence is very important to me. I feel when I walk in the building, by them stopping me and asking me who I am ensures that they stop everyone."
Local emergency plan uses have run the gamut, from evacuating a Nanuet school during a bomb hoax in the fall to text messaging 500 people that Nyack High School's graduation would be postponed a day because of thunderstorms.
Several districts used their emergency plan procedures to alert families that someone on the state's sex offender list had moved into the area. North Rockland and Pearl River districts both locked down elementary schools after police reported they were chasing a robber nearby, and East Ramapo schools did a lockdown in the spring when police chased a man accused of invading a Spring Valley home. Superintendent Mitchell Schwartz said the security plan "worked well."
"It was reassuring to see how smoothly it went," Schwartz said.
A barricaded gunman near Clarkstown North High School in the fall meant that police and school officials had to change bus routes and alert students and parents to the change, said Clarkstown Schools Superintendent Margaret Keller-Cogan.
Clarkstown hired a safety consultant this year who evaluated all the schools and recommended several changes, including more drills and training. The district, like others, has locked most outside doors and placed security staff and greeters at the doors that are open. Grant money is being used to install swipe-card monitors on doors to control access.
"It's an unfortunate skill set to have to develop, but the changes in our culture and society have demanded it," Keller-Cogan said.
Cokeley said she borrowed an idea from Scarsdale schools to create bookmarks for staff and parents to tell them what to do in case the school put its emergency response plan into place. The parent bookmarks especially were needed, she said, because school personnel practice their parts in mock disaster drills, something parents don't do.
Rockland's eight public school districts have been changing safety plans as needed. Among the most recent: Nanuet has given walkie-talkies to security staff; South Orangetown will put cameras in all the school buses next year, and it hired a security firm for the front entrance of each school and to patrol the schools before and after hours. A prank fire drill in the spring was an orderly and quickly investigated occurrence, with students back in class in less than half an hour, Schools Superintendent Joseph Zambito said.
North Rockland schools just got in a new batch of potassium iodide pills to protect students and staff from radiation in case of disaster at Indian Point. The district's safety plan includes how to distribute the pills and how often they need to be replaced.
The Nyack district has money in next year's budget for five monitors on elementary school buses, has put cameras on all its buses, permits people to enter the elementary schools only by a buzzer worked from the school office, and is advertising for an independent security company to patrol its middle and high schools. It also upgraded its communication software to make sure community members and parents are alerted by e-mail and text messaging when needed. The text message about graduation worked extremely well, district spokeswoman Gail Fleur said.
East Ramapo, which is creating a new position for next year, a coordinator for security and safety, plans to place security cameras in each of the schools. The district also upgraded its informational alert capability to include computer and text messaging with the original phone calls.
Saturday, June 30, 2007
Stop static on interoperable radio system plan
Stop static on interoperable radio system plan
(Original publication: June 30, 2007)
The county has jumped through hoops to get municipalities and first-responders on board to put together a countywide emergency radio system that better fits the emerging needs of Rockland and is far more reliable than what we have now.
On Tuesday, the Legislature is due to vote on bonding for a deal with Motorola to build an interoperable system. The upgraded radio system would allow direct communication among first-responders of different agencies. Currently, some must rely on a central relay to get messages to each other. Not only must legislators push the project through, municipalities and first-responder agencies should pledge to join the effort.
Rockland officials have already had to lobby the Federal Communications Commission once to be allowed to hold onto frequencies that lay fallow because the project has taken so long to launch. It's a use-'em-or lose-'em deal - if the county doesn't show progress on the system, it won't be allowed to keep the licenses for the new frequencies it needs to operate it.
Still, there is foot-dragging as deadlines loom for the radio project, most of it from lawyers who want contracts that put all liability for the radios on the county. How much more responsibility does the county have to take for a system that will benefit us all? Rockland already has agreed to cover the costs and has altered parts of the agreements at towns' requests.Weak links risk safety
This system needs the full support of every municipality and emergency response agency. Rockland has seen events that revealed weak links in the current low-band communications network. When a fuel tanker truck slid down a ramp connecting Interstate 287 to the Thruway in Suffern in 1995 and began leaking its hold, Rockland emergency officials had to borrow radios from New Jersey in order to coordinate a shutdown of roadways and commuter train lines while they cleaned up the mess and avoided a fiery explosion. The communications system was overwhelmed during Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
Unforgettable is the tragic cost of poor communication modes between New York City police and firefighters on Sept. 11, 2001. That problem had been identified during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, but went unsolved, contributing to the loss of life in the later terror attack.
Any countywide undertaking - evacuating one part of the county to another, for example - would be stymied by the current system. Myriad scenarios, beyond a natural disaster, demand the capabilities of an interoperable system. Most of the county is within 20 miles of New York City and the Indian Point nuclear facility. Rocklanders also have a major mall and a key highway bridge in our front yard.
It's time to join in the hard work done by County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef and county Fire and Emergency Services Coordinator Gordon Wren Jr. to realize a radio system that will make the county more secure and Rocklanders safer.
(Original publication: June 30, 2007)
The county has jumped through hoops to get municipalities and first-responders on board to put together a countywide emergency radio system that better fits the emerging needs of Rockland and is far more reliable than what we have now.
On Tuesday, the Legislature is due to vote on bonding for a deal with Motorola to build an interoperable system. The upgraded radio system would allow direct communication among first-responders of different agencies. Currently, some must rely on a central relay to get messages to each other. Not only must legislators push the project through, municipalities and first-responder agencies should pledge to join the effort.
Rockland officials have already had to lobby the Federal Communications Commission once to be allowed to hold onto frequencies that lay fallow because the project has taken so long to launch. It's a use-'em-or lose-'em deal - if the county doesn't show progress on the system, it won't be allowed to keep the licenses for the new frequencies it needs to operate it.
Still, there is foot-dragging as deadlines loom for the radio project, most of it from lawyers who want contracts that put all liability for the radios on the county. How much more responsibility does the county have to take for a system that will benefit us all? Rockland already has agreed to cover the costs and has altered parts of the agreements at towns' requests.Weak links risk safety
This system needs the full support of every municipality and emergency response agency. Rockland has seen events that revealed weak links in the current low-band communications network. When a fuel tanker truck slid down a ramp connecting Interstate 287 to the Thruway in Suffern in 1995 and began leaking its hold, Rockland emergency officials had to borrow radios from New Jersey in order to coordinate a shutdown of roadways and commuter train lines while they cleaned up the mess and avoided a fiery explosion. The communications system was overwhelmed during Hurricane Floyd in 1999.
Unforgettable is the tragic cost of poor communication modes between New York City police and firefighters on Sept. 11, 2001. That problem had been identified during the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, but went unsolved, contributing to the loss of life in the later terror attack.
Any countywide undertaking - evacuating one part of the county to another, for example - would be stymied by the current system. Myriad scenarios, beyond a natural disaster, demand the capabilities of an interoperable system. Most of the county is within 20 miles of New York City and the Indian Point nuclear facility. Rocklanders also have a major mall and a key highway bridge in our front yard.
It's time to join in the hard work done by County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef and county Fire and Emergency Services Coordinator Gordon Wren Jr. to realize a radio system that will make the county more secure and Rocklanders safer.
Westchester rejects bus ad by nurses union
Westchester rejects bus ad by nurses union
By MELISSA KLEINTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 30, 2007)
Westchester County rejected a bus advertisement about a contract dispute between nurses and Westchester Medical Center, saying it was too controversial.
The ad showed a stock photo of three smiling nurses with the tag line: "We save lives every day. Westchester Medical Center nurses need a FAIR contract. It's a matter of RESPECT."
Mark Genovese, a spokesman for the New York State Nurses Association, said yesterday that the union wanted to spend about $3,000 to put the ad on the outside of 30 Bee-Line buses on three routes that serve the Valhalla hospital.
The hospital and nurses union are at odds over a proposed change to retirement health benefits. The nurses have been without a contract for a year.
Larry Salley, the county transportation commissioner, said policy forbids several types of advertisements on the bus line, including ads for firearms, tobacco, alcohol, political candidates and anything that advocates positions about controversial public issues.
"This would fall into the category of positions with regard to controversial public issues," Salley said.
He said that if the medical center were to submit an ad advocating its position, that, too, would be rejected.
Salley said he reviews all bus ads and rejected this one. He said there was no pressure from County Executive Andrew Spano to do so.
The county no longer runs the hospital, but in recent years has provided millions in funding to help it pull out of a financial crisis.
Genovese said the union would review its options about fighting the rejection.
Ralph Stein, a professor at Pace University Law School who specializes in constitutional rights, said the union could make a claim on First Amendment grounds in federal court.
But, he said, there have been cases in which courts have backed municipal transit lines in their effort to regulate ads.
"Not just with regard to such obvious things as sex, bad taste, stuff like that," Stein said.
The county has rarely rejected bus advertisements.
Salley said he remembered only two cases in recent years. One involved an ad by Entergy Nuclear Northeast highlighting the benefits of its Indian Point nuclear power plants. The other was a 2001 promotion for the "Opie and Anthony" radio show with the word WOW. The county pulled the ads from buses after learning that "WOW" stood for "Whip 'em Out Wednesday" a reference to women baring their breasts.
The nurses union spent about $800 to print its ads before learning this week that the ads had been rejected, Genovese said.
Nurses have become more vocal about their contract dispute in recent weeks. They held a protest outside the medical center's ball earlier this month.
The union contends that the medical center wants to eliminate a provision that gives full health care coverage at no cost when employees retire, as long as they've had five years of service.
Genovese said he was not aware that any contract talks had been scheduled.
"We have scheduled a meeting with them in the near future," said Kara Bennorth, a spokeswoman for the medical center.
By MELISSA KLEINTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 30, 2007)
Westchester County rejected a bus advertisement about a contract dispute between nurses and Westchester Medical Center, saying it was too controversial.
The ad showed a stock photo of three smiling nurses with the tag line: "We save lives every day. Westchester Medical Center nurses need a FAIR contract. It's a matter of RESPECT."
Mark Genovese, a spokesman for the New York State Nurses Association, said yesterday that the union wanted to spend about $3,000 to put the ad on the outside of 30 Bee-Line buses on three routes that serve the Valhalla hospital.
The hospital and nurses union are at odds over a proposed change to retirement health benefits. The nurses have been without a contract for a year.
Larry Salley, the county transportation commissioner, said policy forbids several types of advertisements on the bus line, including ads for firearms, tobacco, alcohol, political candidates and anything that advocates positions about controversial public issues.
"This would fall into the category of positions with regard to controversial public issues," Salley said.
He said that if the medical center were to submit an ad advocating its position, that, too, would be rejected.
Salley said he reviews all bus ads and rejected this one. He said there was no pressure from County Executive Andrew Spano to do so.
The county no longer runs the hospital, but in recent years has provided millions in funding to help it pull out of a financial crisis.
Genovese said the union would review its options about fighting the rejection.
Ralph Stein, a professor at Pace University Law School who specializes in constitutional rights, said the union could make a claim on First Amendment grounds in federal court.
But, he said, there have been cases in which courts have backed municipal transit lines in their effort to regulate ads.
"Not just with regard to such obvious things as sex, bad taste, stuff like that," Stein said.
The county has rarely rejected bus advertisements.
Salley said he remembered only two cases in recent years. One involved an ad by Entergy Nuclear Northeast highlighting the benefits of its Indian Point nuclear power plants. The other was a 2001 promotion for the "Opie and Anthony" radio show with the word WOW. The county pulled the ads from buses after learning that "WOW" stood for "Whip 'em Out Wednesday" a reference to women baring their breasts.
The nurses union spent about $800 to print its ads before learning this week that the ads had been rejected, Genovese said.
Nurses have become more vocal about their contract dispute in recent weeks. They held a protest outside the medical center's ball earlier this month.
The union contends that the medical center wants to eliminate a provision that gives full health care coverage at no cost when employees retire, as long as they've had five years of service.
Genovese said he was not aware that any contract talks had been scheduled.
"We have scheduled a meeting with them in the near future," said Kara Bennorth, a spokeswoman for the medical center.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Review not enough to ensure safety
(Original publication: June 29, 2007) letters to the editors- journal news
Review not enough to ensure safety
No matter where one stands on the issue of Indian Point, it is well past time for The Journal News to stop characterizing the relicensing process as "an in-depth review of whether the plant can operate for an additional 20 years." The facts state otherwise.
What "in-depth review" does not take into account the population density surrounding the plant? Or terrorism factors in a post-911 world? Or spent fuel rod storage issues, ongoing leaks and the massive fish kills from super-heated water to name just a few. More importantly, what in-depth review is possible without an independent safety assessment?
Reasonable people on both sides of the issue are asking these questions. In the interim, The Journal News does us all a disservice by employing such phrases that, in the end, represent a fundamental change in the viewing of reality.
Maria Cudequest
Croton-on-HudsonCan't afford to close Indian Point
In a Monday letter, "Stop wasting money on more studies," Laurent Lawrence of New Rochelle urged a stop to spending money on "studying" Indian Point. I agree, for different reasons.
Nuclear power can be a safe energy source. With few, but widely known, exceptions, it has long provided safe relatively inexpensive energy worldwide. Obviously, there are dangers. If you live in the area of a nuclear plant, you can either accept the risk or move to somewhere with different risks - maybe hurricanes, earthquakes or war. Even if the plant were decommissioned tomorrow, my understanding is that risks still remain.
If there is a major disaster at Indian Point, many could die, as occurs in any kind of disaster. So far, although people in this area die from a variety of causes every day, none has been because of Indian Point.
The official pretense that a warning system and evacuation plan are useful, much less necessary, insults our intelligence. No one pays attention to those sirens; gridlock would keep us here anyway.
Instead of more studies or fake evacuation plans, use available money to keep Indian Point as safe as possible With all due respect to Rep. John Hall, whom I admire greatly and usually agree with, and the others, until we find another economical, non-polluting energy source, we cannot afford to close Indian Point. Stop studying, worrying and whining, and start maintaining.
Diane Selker
Peekskill
Review not enough to ensure safety
No matter where one stands on the issue of Indian Point, it is well past time for The Journal News to stop characterizing the relicensing process as "an in-depth review of whether the plant can operate for an additional 20 years." The facts state otherwise.
What "in-depth review" does not take into account the population density surrounding the plant? Or terrorism factors in a post-911 world? Or spent fuel rod storage issues, ongoing leaks and the massive fish kills from super-heated water to name just a few. More importantly, what in-depth review is possible without an independent safety assessment?
Reasonable people on both sides of the issue are asking these questions. In the interim, The Journal News does us all a disservice by employing such phrases that, in the end, represent a fundamental change in the viewing of reality.
Maria Cudequest
Croton-on-HudsonCan't afford to close Indian Point
In a Monday letter, "Stop wasting money on more studies," Laurent Lawrence of New Rochelle urged a stop to spending money on "studying" Indian Point. I agree, for different reasons.
Nuclear power can be a safe energy source. With few, but widely known, exceptions, it has long provided safe relatively inexpensive energy worldwide. Obviously, there are dangers. If you live in the area of a nuclear plant, you can either accept the risk or move to somewhere with different risks - maybe hurricanes, earthquakes or war. Even if the plant were decommissioned tomorrow, my understanding is that risks still remain.
If there is a major disaster at Indian Point, many could die, as occurs in any kind of disaster. So far, although people in this area die from a variety of causes every day, none has been because of Indian Point.
The official pretense that a warning system and evacuation plan are useful, much less necessary, insults our intelligence. No one pays attention to those sirens; gridlock would keep us here anyway.
Instead of more studies or fake evacuation plans, use available money to keep Indian Point as safe as possible With all due respect to Rep. John Hall, whom I admire greatly and usually agree with, and the others, until we find another economical, non-polluting energy source, we cannot afford to close Indian Point. Stop studying, worrying and whining, and start maintaining.
Diane Selker
Peekskill
Thursday, June 28, 2007
NRC begins Indian Point relicensing procedure
NRC begins Indian Point relicensing procedure
Cortlandt – About 300 people packed a banquet hall in Cortland Manor for the public start of the license renewal process for the Indian Point Nuclear Power plant. The evening information session was one of two held Wednesday, by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
If there was one thing unique compared to past NRC sessions held in the area, the crowd seemed to have a bit more balance.
The majority of speakers were, as usual, critical of the 30-year-old plant in Buchanan, but there was no shortage of support, from Village of Buchanan Mayor Daniel O’Neil, to former Assemblyman Jerry Kremer, now with the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance, and an unabashed Indian Point supporter.
“What you’re talking about is a facility that should be kept going because the region needs it badly.”
That was a claim made by a large contingent of organized labor.
A quickly-drafted news release from the Coalition of Labor for Energy and Jobs noted the massive power outages from the Wednesday afternoon storms, arguing power shortages would be much more frequent without the 2,000 megawatts Indian Point pumps into the downstate power grid.
During a news conference before the formal NRC session, Bob Seeger, business agent with the Millwrights and Machinery Erectors, Local 740, said it about more than just jobs.
“None of us are going to send our members into a place that’s not safe.”
During the NRC session itself, Marilyn Elie, a co-founder of Westchester Citizens Awareness Network, suggested the union members could get quality jobs, and safer ones, by working for alternative energy.
Peter Harckham, of Katonah, was a student at Dickinson College, in 1979, and was among more than 100,000 evacuated from the area around Three Mile Island.
Harckham argued the tentative Indian Point renewal review has some significant omissions. “You can’t effectively have a strategic planning review when you take half of that process off the table. I respectfully disagree with your assessment that it is a duplication, and would ask you to put emergency planning and security back into the license renewal.”
Another speaker raised the issue of leakage. Division of Licensing Environmental Branch Chairwoman Rani Franovich responded, saying they have not decided exactly what will be examined in their review of Indian Point. “We’re not at that juncture yet where we decided what it is they need to demonstrate to us.”
The license renewal review typically takes 22 months, if the NRC decides a formal public hearing is not needed. Thirty months would be the timeline if there is a hearing.
Cortlandt – About 300 people packed a banquet hall in Cortland Manor for the public start of the license renewal process for the Indian Point Nuclear Power plant. The evening information session was one of two held Wednesday, by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
If there was one thing unique compared to past NRC sessions held in the area, the crowd seemed to have a bit more balance.
The majority of speakers were, as usual, critical of the 30-year-old plant in Buchanan, but there was no shortage of support, from Village of Buchanan Mayor Daniel O’Neil, to former Assemblyman Jerry Kremer, now with the New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance, and an unabashed Indian Point supporter.
“What you’re talking about is a facility that should be kept going because the region needs it badly.”
That was a claim made by a large contingent of organized labor.
A quickly-drafted news release from the Coalition of Labor for Energy and Jobs noted the massive power outages from the Wednesday afternoon storms, arguing power shortages would be much more frequent without the 2,000 megawatts Indian Point pumps into the downstate power grid.
During a news conference before the formal NRC session, Bob Seeger, business agent with the Millwrights and Machinery Erectors, Local 740, said it about more than just jobs.
“None of us are going to send our members into a place that’s not safe.”
During the NRC session itself, Marilyn Elie, a co-founder of Westchester Citizens Awareness Network, suggested the union members could get quality jobs, and safer ones, by working for alternative energy.
Peter Harckham, of Katonah, was a student at Dickinson College, in 1979, and was among more than 100,000 evacuated from the area around Three Mile Island.
Harckham argued the tentative Indian Point renewal review has some significant omissions. “You can’t effectively have a strategic planning review when you take half of that process off the table. I respectfully disagree with your assessment that it is a duplication, and would ask you to put emergency planning and security back into the license renewal.”
Another speaker raised the issue of leakage. Division of Licensing Environmental Branch Chairwoman Rani Franovich responded, saying they have not decided exactly what will be examined in their review of Indian Point. “We’re not at that juncture yet where we decided what it is they need to demonstrate to us.”
The license renewal review typically takes 22 months, if the NRC decides a formal public hearing is not needed. Thirty months would be the timeline if there is a hearing.
Opponents of Indian Point fire questions at NRC
Opponents of Indian Point fire questions at NRC
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 28, 2007)
CORTLANDT - If yesterday's Nuclear Regulatory Commission public meetings are any indication, Indian Point's bid to operate for an extra 20 years will bring plenty of detailed debate in the agency review that will take two years to complete.
At informational sessions in a catering hall next to Cortlandt Town Hall, opponents of the nuclear plants lined up to fire questions at the NRC that dealt little with the relicensing protocol the agency was there to publicize.
"The NRC has a big job to do," said Cortlandt resident Karl Jacobs, a mechanical engineer who said he reviewed the nuclear plants' license renewal application in detail. "I want Entergy to realize that there are people out there who are very knowledgeable about this plant."
The questions and comments of Jacobs and others weren't general. In some cases, speakers brought up regulatory specifics and details about the plants themselves that NRC relicensing staff said they needed to research further.
Indian Point's owner, Entergy Nuclear Northeast, has applied for license extensions for the two working plants that would allow the company to continue producing electricity until 2035.
A flashpoint of controversy for years, especially after the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, Indian Point has been dealing since 2005 with radiation leaks at the plant, problems with warning sirens throughout the 10-mile evacuation zone and a rash of unplanned shutdowns.
Without the 20-year extension, Indian Point 2 would have to close in 2013 and Indian Point 3 in 2015.
Yesterday's meetings were supposed to focus on the NRC's relicensing procedures, but after half-hour presentations by agency staffers at afternoon and evening sessions, audience members pushed for everything from more public involvement to tossing the application altogether.
"The same rules that apply in the current operation will apply during the license extension," said Bo Pham, the NRC's project manager for Indian Point's relicensing application. "There will have to be mitigation of issues we consider significant."
NRC officials noted that the application Entergy submitted April 30 has not finished a prescreening and thus has not been officially accepted. That normally occurs within 45-60 days, officials have said.
Pham acknowledged in response to one resident's question that the agency has not turned down any of the license renewal applications it has accepted. One application was not accepted because it was "fraught with errors."
Nearly half of the 104 plants overseen by the NRC have received approval to continuing producing electricity for an additional 20 years.
Indian Point had plenty of supporters among the hundreds of people at the meeting, as well as organizations that backed its efforts to extend its license in prepared statements.
The Coalition of Labor for Energy Jobs - Boilermakers Local 5, Millwrights and Machine Erectors Local 740 and Utility Workers 1-2 - were joined by members of the Carpenters Union and the Teamsters International in announcing their support for Indian Point, noting that the remarks coincided with an estimated 350,000 New York City residents enduring a power outage.
"We have to look at the greater picture for New York, that the Indian Point facility employs hundreds of highly skilled professionals and contributes more than $750 million annually to the downstate economy," said Jerry Connolly, a spokesman for the group.
Reach Greg Clary at gclary@lohud.com or 914-696-8566.
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These meetings may be the rope that the anti-Indian Point cadre will ultimately hang itself with. At least in the public eye, that is. I heard a lot of demands for specific but irrelevant information, none of which the NRC had on hand. The antis knew they wouldn't; the NRC wasn't there to address issues like greenhouse gases from the nuclear fuel cycle, or Strontium 90 in fish bones (here come the baby teeth again), so there were many smug faces among the cadre when the NRC confessed that they weren't prepared to discuss those issues. However, that doesn't mean that the NRC doesn't have an answer already. The whole dog and pony show allowed a few celebrities of the cause to get up and publicly recite their mantra yet again, and that was the purpose of their request for a separate hearing. It's just another venue to publicize themselves, since the media and the public at large seems to either disagree with them at worst, or are simply apathetic. Later on, many of the anti’s claims and concerns will have to face the light of day, and will be addressed. They will be answered and most likely categorically refuted. One lady, after expressing her allegiance to the many Union workers present, also expressed concern for the future of the healthy newborn infant that she helped deliver as a midwife in the shadow of Indian Point. I thought this was odd that she would be concerned, given that the health threat to a newborn from radiation exposure (assuming that there is any) occurs in the first trimester of the pregnancy. She, as a midwife, certainly knew this. It was another example of how the anti movement uses drama bordering on farce, and broaches complex discussions (like nuclear-fuel cycle greenhouse emissions) without fully understanding their own questions, in an attempt to agitate a public that is not as gullible or paranoid as they wish it to be.
Posted by: SPQR on Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:06 am
The furious networking that I've monitored over the last few weeks among the small but vocal "anti" cadre, is a marvel of self organization, dedication, mutual cross-briefing in what issues to raise, and resulted in the entire cadre showing up for the NRC meeting last night. The fact that you can fit the entire anti nuke "army" in a single room (albeit in two sessions) is a very telling fact. There are not many of them. I once saw a Journal News article listing about 60 "holdout" activists, mainly older people, left over from the 60's & 70's peace movement, and now living in the Hud Valley. These semi-famous figures form a core, and a few organizers like Mark Jacobs of Longview school continue the emailing, the networking, the meetings at the Unitarian churches (partly as a civics lesson for his students).... resulting in the total count of around 300 people dedicated to shutting Indian Point down regardless, at any cost. That is who Greg Clary's story is about. That's a good story, actually! ...Think about it: "Handful of Dedicated Revolutionaries Attempts to Argue Away Region's Electrical Infrastructure" might be one title. Or another title: "300 Luddites Invade Informational Meeting to Harrass NRC". Essentially, a new shadow organization exists, which one might call the "NRC Camp Follower's Club". They only meet at NRC meetings, and pretend to speak for the 20,000,000 people who need Indian Point's services. They do not. They speak, at most, for the 33% minority who think negatively about these issues, and in fact, they speak absolutely, only for themselves. They do not speak for the 67% expressing positive inclinations toward keeping Indian Point running, and they do not speak about what way they intend to remake our society should this needed infrastructure be trashed. So what is their point? It seems their only point is to attend NRC meetings, and turn them into self-aggrandizement circuses, harrassing the dour, serious, responsible NRC staff with confounding questions, like pygmies shooting darts at some governmental elephant. A cynical revolutionary hootenanny, not even paying attention to the program NRC came there to reveal to the public. Unfortunately, because all the chairs were taken by the hootenanny attendees, the public never got to participate. My suggestion to NRC is to stop inciting these useless circuses, and simply take an ad in the New York Times, outlining their program.
Posted by: howard on Thu Jun 28, 2007 6:03 am
By GREG CLARYTHE JOURNAL NEWS
(Original publication: June 28, 2007)
CORTLANDT - If yesterday's Nuclear Regulatory Commission public meetings are any indication, Indian Point's bid to operate for an extra 20 years will bring plenty of detailed debate in the agency review that will take two years to complete.
At informational sessions in a catering hall next to Cortlandt Town Hall, opponents of the nuclear plants lined up to fire questions at the NRC that dealt little with the relicensing protocol the agency was there to publicize.
"The NRC has a big job to do," said Cortlandt resident Karl Jacobs, a mechanical engineer who said he reviewed the nuclear plants' license renewal application in detail. "I want Entergy to realize that there are people out there who are very knowledgeable about this plant."
The questions and comments of Jacobs and others weren't general. In some cases, speakers brought up regulatory specifics and details about the plants themselves that NRC relicensing staff said they needed to research further.
Indian Point's owner, Entergy Nuclear Northeast, has applied for license extensions for the two working plants that would allow the company to continue producing electricity until 2035.
A flashpoint of controversy for years, especially after the 2001 terrorist attacks in New York City, Indian Point has been dealing since 2005 with radiation leaks at the plant, problems with warning sirens throughout the 10-mile evacuation zone and a rash of unplanned shutdowns.
Without the 20-year extension, Indian Point 2 would have to close in 2013 and Indian Point 3 in 2015.
Yesterday's meetings were supposed to focus on the NRC's relicensing procedures, but after half-hour presentations by agency staffers at afternoon and evening sessions, audience members pushed for everything from more public involvement to tossing the application altogether.
"The same rules that apply in the current operation will apply during the license extension," said Bo Pham, the NRC's project manager for Indian Point's relicensing application. "There will have to be mitigation of issues we consider significant."
NRC officials noted that the application Entergy submitted April 30 has not finished a prescreening and thus has not been officially accepted. That normally occurs within 45-60 days, officials have said.
Pham acknowledged in response to one resident's question that the agency has not turned down any of the license renewal applications it has accepted. One application was not accepted because it was "fraught with errors."
Nearly half of the 104 plants overseen by the NRC have received approval to continuing producing electricity for an additional 20 years.
Indian Point had plenty of supporters among the hundreds of people at the meeting, as well as organizations that backed its efforts to extend its license in prepared statements.
The Coalition of Labor for Energy Jobs - Boilermakers Local 5, Millwrights and Machine Erectors Local 740 and Utility Workers 1-2 - were joined by members of the Carpenters Union and the Teamsters International in announcing their support for Indian Point, noting that the remarks coincided with an estimated 350,000 New York City residents enduring a power outage.
"We have to look at the greater picture for New York, that the Indian Point facility employs hundreds of highly skilled professionals and contributes more than $750 million annually to the downstate economy," said Jerry Connolly, a spokesman for the group.
Reach Greg Clary at gclary@lohud.com or 914-696-8566.
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These meetings may be the rope that the anti-Indian Point cadre will ultimately hang itself with. At least in the public eye, that is. I heard a lot of demands for specific but irrelevant information, none of which the NRC had on hand. The antis knew they wouldn't; the NRC wasn't there to address issues like greenhouse gases from the nuclear fuel cycle, or Strontium 90 in fish bones (here come the baby teeth again), so there were many smug faces among the cadre when the NRC confessed that they weren't prepared to discuss those issues. However, that doesn't mean that the NRC doesn't have an answer already. The whole dog and pony show allowed a few celebrities of the cause to get up and publicly recite their mantra yet again, and that was the purpose of their request for a separate hearing. It's just another venue to publicize themselves, since the media and the public at large seems to either disagree with them at worst, or are simply apathetic. Later on, many of the anti’s claims and concerns will have to face the light of day, and will be addressed. They will be answered and most likely categorically refuted. One lady, after expressing her allegiance to the many Union workers present, also expressed concern for the future of the healthy newborn infant that she helped deliver as a midwife in the shadow of Indian Point. I thought this was odd that she would be concerned, given that the health threat to a newborn from radiation exposure (assuming that there is any) occurs in the first trimester of the pregnancy. She, as a midwife, certainly knew this. It was another example of how the anti movement uses drama bordering on farce, and broaches complex discussions (like nuclear-fuel cycle greenhouse emissions) without fully understanding their own questions, in an attempt to agitate a public that is not as gullible or paranoid as they wish it to be.
Posted by: SPQR on Thu Jun 28, 2007 7:06 am
The furious networking that I've monitored over the last few weeks among the small but vocal "anti" cadre, is a marvel of self organization, dedication, mutual cross-briefing in what issues to raise, and resulted in the entire cadre showing up for the NRC meeting last night. The fact that you can fit the entire anti nuke "army" in a single room (albeit in two sessions) is a very telling fact. There are not many of them. I once saw a Journal News article listing about 60 "holdout" activists, mainly older people, left over from the 60's & 70's peace movement, and now living in the Hud Valley. These semi-famous figures form a core, and a few organizers like Mark Jacobs of Longview school continue the emailing, the networking, the meetings at the Unitarian churches (partly as a civics lesson for his students).... resulting in the total count of around 300 people dedicated to shutting Indian Point down regardless, at any cost. That is who Greg Clary's story is about. That's a good story, actually! ...Think about it: "Handful of Dedicated Revolutionaries Attempts to Argue Away Region's Electrical Infrastructure" might be one title. Or another title: "300 Luddites Invade Informational Meeting to Harrass NRC". Essentially, a new shadow organization exists, which one might call the "NRC Camp Follower's Club". They only meet at NRC meetings, and pretend to speak for the 20,000,000 people who need Indian Point's services. They do not. They speak, at most, for the 33% minority who think negatively about these issues, and in fact, they speak absolutely, only for themselves. They do not speak for the 67% expressing positive inclinations toward keeping Indian Point running, and they do not speak about what way they intend to remake our society should this needed infrastructure be trashed. So what is their point? It seems their only point is to attend NRC meetings, and turn them into self-aggrandizement circuses, harrassing the dour, serious, responsible NRC staff with confounding questions, like pygmies shooting darts at some governmental elephant. A cynical revolutionary hootenanny, not even paying attention to the program NRC came there to reveal to the public. Unfortunately, because all the chairs were taken by the hootenanny attendees, the public never got to participate. My suggestion to NRC is to stop inciting these useless circuses, and simply take an ad in the New York Times, outlining their program.
Posted by: howard on Thu Jun 28, 2007 6:03 am
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