The aging nuclear power plant becomes part of the
presidential political debate
BUCHANAN – Democratic presidential hopeful Senator Bernie Sanders said the Indian Point nuclear power plant should be shut down “in a safe and responsible way.”
His comments on Monday came a week after the discovery of bolts missing or decaying and past leaks of water at the facility.
“Even in a perfect world where energy companies didn’t make mistakes, nuclear power is and always has been a dangerous idea because there is no good way to store nuclear waste,” Sanders said.
The US must transform its energy system “away from nuclear power and fossil fuels and towards energy efficiency and renewable energies like wind, solar, geothermal and biomass which will provide safe and clean energy and create millions of good-paying jobs,” he said.
The pro-Indian Point group, New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance, disputes Sanders’ contentions.
“For many years Indian Point has safely produced electricity for millions of New Yorkers who rely on its power for their day-to-day energy needs,” said New York AREA’s Jerry Kremer. “If Senator Sanders had his way and closed Indian Point, a $1 billion economic engineer would be shutters; our carbon emissions would spike; and hard-working New Yorkers would pay a lot more for electricity.”
