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This from The Journal News:
It turned out to be a simple oversight, but for a few moments on Friday evening Westchester County officials were concerned that something might be wrong at Indian Point.
About 6 p.m., the dedicated telephone system used to alert the state and local counties about problems at the nuclear plant - known as the Radiological Emergency Communication System, or RECS - sounded without warning.
It turned out to be an unscheduled test of the system that plant owner Entergy Nuclear Northeast conducted at the request of state emergency management officials, but they failed to notify local counties about.
Susan Tolchin, chief adviser to Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano, said county officials were quickly able to reach Entergy and confirm that nothing was wrong.
But the incident, she added, raises further doubts about Entergy's ability to safely operate the facility.
"We are more concerned about the incompetence," Tolchin said "They didn't know that when you make a RECS call, it goes to all these different places."
Together with New York's governor, Eliot Spitzer, New York's Attorney General Andrew Cuomo has filed legal arguments opposing Entergy's effort to gain new licenses for the reactors. Wow. New York now enjoys the status of being the first state ever to officially oppose nuclear plant license renewal.
Well, yes, the Indian Point people have displayed gross incompetence, so you can kind of imagine why Spitzer and Cuomo wouldn't want that plant around. But to be honest, with the cooling tower collapse and the shutdown 10 days later, Vermont Yankee has showed its own incompetence.
And I want it to stick around.
The difference between us (in Vermont) and them (in New York) is that our politicians don't present nearly as united a front against incompetence as theirs. Vermont's state senator Peter Shumlin has politely signaled his desire for more caution in the relicensing process, and so have Jeanette White and David Deen. So, even, has Patrick Leahy. But those are far cries from expressions of out-and-out opposition. Their voices are hardly dripping with disgust when they say the words "Vermont Yankee" or with certainty when they say the word, "Huh?" And our governor, unlike the New York governor, LOVES the idea of nuclear power.
Will Andrew Cuomo and Eliot Spitzer have their way in New York? I hope not. New York City and Westchester County need power that is "too cheap to meter"—even if it's not too cheap to meter. They need it even more than we here in Vermont do--for, as activist Claire Chang pointed out, Vermonters living in single family dwellings can easily and at almost no cost reduce their energy consumption so much so that they don't need the power Vermont Yankee generates.
But what if the New York politicians do get their way? What if Cuomo and Spitzer's opposition to Indian Point relicensing makes a difference?
Will Indian Point's license be allowed to expire?
And if so, will our lawmakers –our Shumlins and Whites and Deans – be emboldened? Will they ever stop being so amazingly polite? Will they get around to taking an actual stand?
I hope not. Because, from where I sit, incompetence is forgivable. Political fortitude is not.
Amen,
Fake-Rob
2 comments:
You are smokin' crack if you think that Shumlin is going to go all the way against Vermont Yankee.
He's paying plenty of careful lip-service to you flakes in Windham County. But you're all too stoned to realize what he isn't saying.
Ask Shumlin for an promise in writing to do everything in his power as the President Pro-Tem to shut down Yankee and see how he responds.
Ha, ha, ha. The jokes on you idiots.
Actually, Sen. Chuck Schumer also mentioned closing down the scary Indian Point. No word from Hillary. As to VY, do you guys seriously think that the state emergency program that's supposed to push for a better-than-half arse emergency response is anything but sucking up to Entergy and looking at the locals like they're greedy crazies looking for more sirens? I agree with "anonymous". The people in Windham County deserve better than the crap job state emergency response is doling out. Poo-pooing the safety concerns of the towns in favor of being the good buddy of Entergy and sucking up their free bar at their annual parties is a sorry way to ensure public safety.
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