CORTLANDT – The Indian Point Closure Task Force and the Oversight Board met Thursday in Cortlandt town hall to discuss the scope and goals of the task force.
The meeting included input from the public, NRC and local officials as Holtec, owner of the decommissioning plan, sought exemptions from the NRC – which Indian Point Oversight Board wants to cover to help ensure greater public safety during the decommissioning process.
“We had a different view with Holtec about some of those exemptions. We filed comments to the NRC to oppose some of those exemptions. To date no action has been taken, but that’s an example of how these discussions result in certain actions,” said Tom Congdon, chairman of the Indian Point Closure Oversight Board.
The NRC also pulled their resident inspector at the plant, something typical, said Congdon, of other decommissioning plants across the country.
“It created some concern in the community that there wasn’t a regulator onsite on a day-to-day basis. It’s another place the state can step and fill that gap. The department of public service hired a resident inspector, a nuclear expert,” he said.
There are also the issues of a pipeline that runs under the plant. Congdon said it is also important that Holtec and the owners of the pipeline communicate well during the process.
“We recognized during the decommissioning process that there be strong communication protocols. We worked hard to ensure there was a memorandum of understanding that guided their communication activities and most importantly identified physical protections of the pipeline on the site,” said Congdon.
Dust from demolition is also an issue, and Congdon said this needs to be safely addressed as the plant is being dismantled.
“You’re talking about massive structures that are going to be taken down and demolished. Frankly there are decommissioning sites around the country, where there are videos easily accessible through YouTube where you can see other sites, which shows an implosion to take down big concrete domes,” said Congdon. “The images are seared in our minds as something we don’t want to see happen here at Indian Point in a more densely populated region like ours. So, there are a lot of concerns about demolition.”
The task force was formed in 2017 to provide guidance and support to nearby communities, taxing jurisdictions, and employees affected by the closure of the nuclear power facility. The oversight board was established in 2020 to access how to protect the financial, environmental, and physical interests of the communities affected by the decommissioning and the current workforce for the continuation of public safety.
