BUCHANAN – Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney (D, NY18) Monday called
for the NRC to shut down the Indian Point Unit 2 nuclear power plant until
it is definitively determined what caused a number of baffle bolts to
fail.
Speaking in Buchanan, home of the power plant, he also called on a safety
review of those bolts in the Unit 3 power plant.
“When it comes to nuclear safety, the rule is – if you don’t
know, don’t. We need to make safety our top priority and unless
and until we understand the root causes of the baffle bolts failing at
Unit 2, we should not be restarting that unit and I have called on the
NRC to immediately shut down the unit again and find out the root cause,”
he said. “We must make safety our top priority.”
“We know that bolts wear out over time; that is why we planned
these inspections well in advance. We proactively identified and fixed
the issue,” Indian Point spokesman Jerry Nappi said Monday.
When Entergy restarted Unit 2 late last week, it said the inspection
and replacement of the bolts were successful and that the NRC said there
were no safety concerns. It also said it would be inspecting the bolts
in Unit 3 early next year.
