Rockland Officials Give Indian Point Update

NEW CITY, NY —The Indian Point Energy Center nuclear power plant in Buchanan, Westchester County ceased operations on April 30. But the plant's proximity to Rockland County means safety and security issues remain relevant to local residents.

On May 11, Rockland County emergency management officials updated the Rockland County Public Safety Committee about the closure of the facility, namely about the cleanup of materials, security of the decommissioning site and the emergency procedures that remain in place locally in case of any accidents at the site.

Officials said the decommissioning of the plant is expected to take about 12 to 15 years to complete. Christopher Kear, director of Rockland County Fire and Emergency Services, said the decommissioning process includes decontaminating to reduce radioactivity, dismantling most structures, removing contaminated materials and storing spent fuel appropriately.

During that time, Holtec International, the New Jersey-based company that bought Indian Point from Entergy Nuclear Northeast, is required to have security at the site.

But Rockland County officials said emergency procedures - in case of an accident or incident - must remain in place for at least one year from when the last of the fuel was removed from the core reactor.

These emergency plans include evacuation routes, shelter in place instructions and plans for schools in the potentially impacted zone, officials said. About 122,000 Rockland County residents are covered by the plans and the Protective Action Area covers about half of Rockland County.

According to officials, regular response drills are expected to be carried out by the county through 2021, and possibly 2022, and sirens are tested quarterly, the most recent test having taken place on May 10. More details about emergency plans are available online.

Nicholas Longo Jr., Rockland County Emergency Planning and Public Information coordinator, said the cleanup of materials has begun, the fuel has been removed from the core of the nuclear reactor and placed into a spent fuel pool to cool. In about 12 to 18 months, the fuel is expected to be cool enough to be moved into dry cases for on-site storage.

Eventually, all of the spent fuel pools will be drained, their contents and other materials placed into dry casks and moved to a spent fuel pad. All of the pools, along with most of the structures on the site, will be dismantled and the property will turned into a greenfield, Longo said.

However, Kear said it remains unclear if the spent fuel will be stored on-site or transported to another location. The latter option, Kear said, poses a safety challenge due to concerns about using rail lines or ships for transport.

Longo said the U.S. Department of Energy will own the fuel, but that no long-term storage facility currently exists after the Yucca Mountain facility in Nevada was shut down. Holtec, according to sources, would like to store the spent fuel in a location in New Mexico.

Despite some of this uncertainty, Legislator Aron Wieder, chairman of the Public Safety Committee, said he was pleased to hear the plans that are in place to deal with the continued decommissioning of the facility.

"It is reassuring to know how hard everyone is working to continue with the emergency response plan in the case the worst was to ever happen," Wieder said.

Wieder continued: "Although this facility has been shut down in 2021, we know it will be many years until the project is fully resolved due to the nuclear spent fuel and the unknowns surrounding its final storage placement."