PRESS RELEASE

July 13, 2007

ENVIRONMENTAL WATCHDOG COMMENDS NYS ATTORNEY GENERAL'S CALL FOR SAFER NUCLEAR POWER PLANT RE-LICENSING CRITERIA

(ALBANY, NY) - Environmental Advocates of New York commends the New York State Attorney General, Andrew M. Cuomo, for his office’s support of an ongoing lawsuit to challenge the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC) re-licensing criteria for nuclear power plants, including the Indian Point Power Plant in Westchester County.

Currently, the NRC does not take emergency planning issues, increases in population density, and infrastructure into consideration when determining whether a nuclear power plant should be re-licensed—issues that would be considered before the construction of a new facility. This means that for facilities such as the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant, which was built more than 30 years ago, the fact that there are now more than 300,000 residents living within the 10-mile radius of the plant is not taken into account when the NRC reviews its re-licensing application. 

The NRC licenses new commercial power reactors for 40 years (the last nuclear power plant in the U.S. was built in 1973) and can renew licenses for an additional 20 years. The NRC has granted license extensions for 44 reactors and is currently reviewing eight other applications, with approximately 30 more to be submitted in the next decade. Only two aspects are examined: direct environmental effects of operations and physical plant safety.  

“Attorney General Cuomo is to be congratulated for fighting to ensure that nuclear power plants are held to a high safety standard,” said Robert Moore, executive director of Environmental Advocates of New York.

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Environmental Advocates of New York is the state’s government watchdog, holding lawmakers and agencies accountable for implementing policy that protects natural resources and safeguards public health. Environmental Advocates works alone and in coalitions, and has more than 7,000 individual and 130 organizational members. The 501(c)(3) is also the New York affiliate of the National Wildlife Federation. For more information call 518.462.5526 or visit www.eany.org.