CONTROVERSES NUCLEAIRES !
ACTUALITE INTERNATIONALE
2003

Centrale US à fermer
Indian Point Nuclear Reactor
!?
Source SILENCE:
    Le 11 septembre 2001, les avions qui ont percuté les tours de New York, ont survolé quelques minutes avant la centrale d'Indian Point. D'un seul coup, les New-Yorkais se sont rendu compte qu'ils vivaient à côté d'une bmbe!  A 40 km de la ville, elle lui fournit un tiers de son électricité. Plus de 20 millions de personnes habitent dans un rayon de 80 km. Indian Point détient le record du plus grand nombre d'incidents de tous les réacteurs du continent. Le gouverneur de l'Etat de New York a rendu publique une étude le 10 janvier dernier annonçant qu'il serait impossible d'évacuer la  population en cas d'accident majeur ou d'attentat. La même étude conclut qu'un attentat pourrait contaminer une zone jusqu'à des centaines de kilomètres de l'impact initial. Et il ne faut pas compter sur les autorités pour avertir en cas de problèmes. Le 15 février 2000, un réacteur a laissé s'écouler 75.000 litres d'eau radioactive dans l'Hudson à 7 km an amont des sources d'alimentation de la ville de  New York. L'incident a été caché pendant six mois. Le gouverneur de l'Etat de New York n'ayant pas la compétence de faire fermer le réacteur il a émis l'hypothèse de son rachat pour pouvoir la fermer   (Le Monde, 31 janvier 2003)
Détails source ADIL:
Fire at New York's Indian Point Nuclear Reactor

BUCHANAN, New York, April 30, 2003 (ENS) - A fire in the Unit 3 main turbine of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant early Tuesday morning caused the shutdown of the unit, and an emergency was declared by the plant's operator, Entergy Nuclear. The fire was out in 47 minutes, but the incident revived fears of surrounding residents that the Indian Point located on the Hudson River is a dangerous neighbor.
    Located 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan, Indian Point is within a 50 mile radius of eight percent of the population of the United States.
    In a statement about the incident, Entergy said that control room operators manually shut down Unit 3 after a fire started on the plant's main turbine in a non-nuclear area of the plant. The fire, located 53 feet above the floor of the turbine building, was extinguished by plant workers using fixed and portable carbon dioxide fire suppression equipment, the company said.
    Entergy spokesman Larry Gottlieb said the fire smouldered in insulation around the turbine, and some flames were seen. The plant, which was returned to service April 23 following a refueling outage, was operating at 60 percent power when it was shut down.
    Entergy Nuclear says the cause of the fire is being investigated, and Unit 3 will be returned to service after the investigation is completed.
    Entergy immediately notified the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, New York State and Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Putnam counties. The emergency notice, declared at 3:13 am, was terminated at 5:09 am.
    Indian Point Unit 2 was already shut down was and unaffected by the fire or the reactor trip in Unit 3. Unit 2 shut down automatically late Monday afternoon when a power outage occurred offsite causing the plant to disconnect from the electrical grid as designed. Electrical equipment in the plant's substation is designed to disconnect from the grid to protect itself from potential damage caused by power surges in the grid. Unit 2 is expected to be back in service within a few days.
    Entergy Nuclear Northeast Indian Point Energy Center Site Vice President Fred Dacimo was pleased with the response of the Indian Point workers.
    "In both situations Indian Point staff demonstrated their skills and training by safely and correctly responding to these events," said Dacimo.
    But in February, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) issued a report concluding it could not give "reasonable assurance" that emergency evacuation plans for the area around the plant would work in case of a nuclear meltdown.
    The federal agency said its assessment was based mainly on the failure of New York State to provide important information, and asked state officials to comply by May 2 before it sends a final report to the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
    In January a former FEMA administrator, James Lee Witt, produced a report stating that emergency evacuation plans in the event of a nuclear disaster at Indian Point "are not able to protect the public from an unacceptable dose of radiation." The Witt report, commissioned by New York Governor George Pataki in response to growing citizen concerns, found the regional evacuation plans were inadequate.
    A broad coalition of over 40 local, regional and national environmental and citizens groups has formed the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition.
    These groups are calling for immediate shutdown of the Indian Point nuclear reactors, securing of the irradiated "spent" fuel rods stored on site, an independent review of the safety of any future plant operations, and in opposing certification of what they say is an ineffective and unworkable evacuation plan.