Federal regulators reject request for more frequent leak testing for Indian Point

Dive Brief:

The Atomic Safety and Licensing Board last week rejected a request from the state of New York to require leak testing every decade, as opposed to every 15 years, at Entergy's Indian Point nuclear facility, Politico New York reports.
The decision is another setback in New York's bid to close down the controversial plant, which Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) believes should not be operating so close to New York City.
A spokesman for Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told Politico New York that the state is considering legal action to challenge the ASLB's decision.

Dive Insight:

Entergy won a delay to leak testing, convincing federal regulators to reject the state of New York's plan to examine the facility every decade rather than 15 years.

“Any change in the frequency of tests is made following completion of a detailed engineering analysis and approval by independent experts at the NRC,” Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi told Politico following the decision. “In addition, pressure inside the containment building is monitored continuously when the plant is online, including around the welds between the steel that lines the inside of containment, and previous tests at both Indian Point units have demonstrated good results.”

The testing includes increasing air pressure on the inside of the facility and then checking for leaks.

Earlier this year, Gov. Cuomo announced there were "alarming levels of radioactivity at three monitoring wells" at the Indian Point facility, with one showing a nearly 65,000% increase. The contamination had not migrated offsite, and was not expected to pose an immediate threat to public health, but it heightened calls to close down the facility.

Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders has called for Indian Point to be shut down as well, heading into New York's Democratic primary next week.

Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) has called for a more moderate approach, suggesting plans to immediately shutter the plant are not considering the impacts on power prices, and he wants the plant to continue operating as long as it can do so safely.

Last year, the state denied Indian Point a water use permit, which lead to Entergy filing a lawsuit in response alleging that the state's objections were based on concerns over the plant's safety, which is regulated by the federal government and not New York.

Though Cuomo wants to close Indian Point, he has also said New York will do everything in its power to block Entergy's plans to close its upstate James A. FitzPatrick nuclear plant. The company wants to shutter that plant either this year or in early 2017. which is being squeezed by high operating costs and low natural gas prices. But Cuomo has said he would use "every legal and regulatory avenue" in effort to save more than 600 jobs at the facility."