INDIAN POINT 2 CLEARED

To the editor,

The NRC recently declared Indian Point unit 2 safe to restart after examining work done by Entergy to make repairs to the reactor during the unit’s scheduled refueling outage. To Entergy’s credit, it had identified, publically announced and made repairs, demonstrating again that it puts safety first, before operation. In addition, in its annual review, the NRC determined that both units operated safely. In fact, both units are operating now that unit 2 has been returned to service.

This is good news as the summer-days’ heat is already upon us and driving up demand for electricity, 25 percent of which Indian Point regularly provides while emitting virtually no toxic, greenhouse-gas emissions. Why is this important? The many asthma sufferers—and there are many, especially the young and the elderly in New York City, would suffer even more if electricity came from fossil-burning electric generating plants as surely would be the case if Indian Point were shut down. Natural gas plants would release to the air up to 6.6 million metric tons of carbon dioxide every year if called upon to replace Indian Point, which would be likely.

As a major, clean energy source, it is critical for all New Yorkers that Indian Point continue operating.

Sincerely,
Frank Fraley, president, SHARE-NY
SHARE-NY (Safe, Healthy, Affordable, Reliable and Electricity) is a coalition of businesses, clergy, and community leaders located in NYC