Senator Clinton Demands Hearing On Indian Pt. Leaks
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Senator Clinton called yesterday for an “immediate oversight hearing” into leaks of radioactive water at the Indian Point nuclear power plant in upstate Buchanan.
In a letter to the chairman of the Senate’s Environment and Public Works Committee, James Inhofe, Mrs. Clinton said the hearings needed to examine the cause of the leak and why it was not disclosed to the public until Tuesday, nearly a month after workers discovered a small amount of radioactive water coming through cracks in the spent fuel storage building.
The call for a hearing comes a day after the state’s emergency management office called for an investigation into the leak. An investigation alone, however, is unlikely to satisfy critics who have renewed their legislative, legal and public relations offensive to shut down the nuclear power plant located within a 50-mile radius of more than 20 million people.
Assemblyman Richard Brodsky, a Democrat, criticized an emergency evacuation plan drawn up and certified by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Mr. Brodsky has vowed to renew state legislation that would shut down the plant, which is operated by the Entergy Corporation.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the amounts were not harmful and defended their decision not to disclose the leaks until they were found to have worsened.