CLARKSTOWN SUPERVISOR ALEXANDER J. GROMACK

URGES NATIONAL AND STATE LEADERS TO REEVALUATE

INDIAN POINT NUCLEAR SAFETY AND EVACUATION ISSUES

 

 

 

Clarkstown, NY (April 4, 2011) - In a series of letters this past week, Clarkstown Supervisor Alex Gromack proposed changes in governmental responsibility for nuclear power oversight and applauded Governor Cuomo's call for a new comprehensive safety study of the nuclear reactors at the Indian Point Nuclear Facility in Buchanan, NY. 

 

In a letter to President Obama, Town Supervisor Gromack stated that as the nuclear disaster in Fukujima, Japan continues to unfold, “a major ongoing problem is lack of confidence as to accuracy and timeliness of information nuclear disaster, from both the nuclear industry and the government.”   Gromack noted that, “During the Three Mile Island nuclear “event”….it was not until President Carter visited the plant himself that the true state of events was had and correct decisions were made.”

 

Gromack called for a federal employee to be stationed at each of the nation’s 104 nuclear plants, who would, “an ‘event’…..report directly to the Secretary of Energy and so that the President would have first hand information relayed by a cabinet member.” 

 

In letters to Members of Congress Engel and Lowey, Gromack drew a comparison between the Indian Point Nuclear Plant and the nuclear plant at Shoreham in Suffolk County, which was closed because there was no way to evacuate the surrounding area.

 

Gromack wrote, “The one overwhelming fact that runs through all the concerns I and others have voiced over three decades, is that there is simply no feasible way of evacuating the people living in the ten (10) mile zone surrounding the Indian Point nuclear plant, let alone the almost 20 million people living within fifty (50) miles. This was documented by the Witt Report, which was issued at the request of then Governor Pataki.” 

 

Gromack stated, “…it is high time for this emergency planning responsibility to be returned to either the States or the localities in which these nuclear facilities are situated.”  The Supervisor also called for “Congress to require the NRC to effectuate this change, both generally and specifically with regard to the Nuclear Energy Facility at Indian Point.”  

 

In his letter to Governor Cuomo, Gromack applauded Governor Cuomo's call for a new comprehensive safety study of the nuclear reactors at the Indian Point Nuclear Facility in Buchanan, NY. 

  

Gromack noted long standing concerns over the continued operation of the plant stating that before the current disaster in Fukujima, Japan, concerns over radioactive water leaks, seismological faults, plant malfunctions and the lack of a feasible evacuation plant have been dismissed by plant operators and nuclear regulatory agency officials, who have, “…assured over and over that a ‘nuclear event’ at the plant is ‘unlikely’ and that the safety precautions in place are designed to address any natural disaster of ‘historic’ proportion.

 

Gromack added, “Considering the recent events in Japan, the words, ‘likely’ and ‘historic’ require redefinition.”