nuclear-news

Judges struggle to understand budget for Indian Point nuclear plant evacuation plan

Nuke hearing targets evacuation costs Iohud.com Michael Risinit  22 Oct 12, Federal judges question formula used by Indian Point owner TARRYTOWN — The three federal administrative judges presiding over Indian Point’s re-licensing hearing struggled Wednesday to understand how the nuclear plant’s owner and federal regulators
estimate the cost of relocating residents following a radioactive accident.

A complex formula based on five nuclear plants around the country —
but not Indian Point — puts the daily relocation allowance for a
family of five at $230. Head judge Lawrence McDade of the Atomic
Safety and Licensing Board told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission the
formula appeared out of sync with one of the country’s most expensive
areas.

“I think you could probably buy a hotel in . . . Mississippi,” he
said, referring to the area around one of the plants used in the
formula, “for what it would cost you to stay in a hotel for a week in
New York City.” The debate about evacuation costs was part of the
state’s first public challenge to Entergy Nuclear’s bid to re-license
Indian Point for 20 years. The licenses for the two reactors expire
next year and in 2015 and the state, along with Riverkeeper and the
Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, have raised several “contentions” as to
why the NRC should not renew them.

Joseph Jones, an evacuation expert from Sandia National Laboratory who
appeared for the NRC, acknowledged the economic difference. The $46
per day per person, Jones said, would probably leave a family living
near the Grand Gulf nuclear station in Mississippi with some extra
dollars compared to one in the New York metropolitan area…..
http://www.lohud.com/article/20121018/NEWS02/310180083/Nuke-hearing-targets-evacuation-costs?nclick_check=1

October 23, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Legal, USA