bjbjLULU GWEN IFILL: Next, questions about
the safety and future of nuclear energy in
the wake of the Fukushima reactor disaster
in Japan.
That's the subject of tonight's "Frontline."
NewsHour science correspondent Miles O'Brien
traveled to three continents to find the answers.
Here in the United States, he looked at the
Indian Point Power Plant in Buchanan, New
York.
One of the reactors there was shut down last
week for repairs, the 18th unplanned shutdown
in five years.
Here's a portion of Miles' piece.
MILES O BRIEN: A Fukushima-scale accident
here, less than 50 miles from the lower tip
of Manhattan, would likely mark the end of
the U.S. nuclear industry.
Seventeen million people live within 50 miles
of this plant.
And that's one reason plant operator Entergy's
application for a 20-year renewal is proving
so controversial.
The company says it spent a billion dollars
on upgrades and that an accident of the scale
of Fukushima couldn't happen here.
JOE POLLOCK, Indian Point Energy Center: The
problem in Japan was, they weren't able to
cool the reactors.
We have six sources of off-site power.
We have three emergency diesel generators
on both units.
I have two more redundant emergency diesel
generators.
Either one is capable of safely shutting down
the unit.
They're located at four different elevations,
four different areas of the plant.
Some are in bunkers you were in.
One is elevated at least 40 feet above where
the water is.
MILES O BRIEN: This is a contentious license
renewal, the most contentious I think we can
agree on, right?
Why?
JOE POLLOCK: Well, we're in a metropolitan
area.
When the plant was built back in the '60s,
because unit one was actually commercial in
1961, there was people that didn't want it
here then.
But we are a valuable asset to the community
here in many ways, in the air quality.
We're a low-cost provider of electricity.
Therefore, we hold the price of electricity
down in the area.
And, in fact, if you look at our life extension,
if we operated 20 more years, just the union
labor would earn over $1.3 billion in earnings
at today's salary.
MILES O BRIEN: The plant has its passionate
critics.
LYNN SYKES, Columbia University: We have had
some earthquakes in the Eastern and Central
U.S. MILES O BRIEN: Lynn Sykes, a Columbia
University geologist, has spent years arguing
that the Indian Point Plant is not fully prepared
for earthquakes.
Two seismic fault zones intersect one mile
north of the plant.
All right, so the Ramapo Fault, which you
discovered.
Where is Indian Point?
LYNN SYKES: Indian Point is right here.
MILES O BRIEN: Right on the fault.
When they were designing Indian Point, this
was unknown.
LYNN SYKES: This was unknown.
The original design for Indian Point one barely
mentions earthquakes, except to say that this
region is quiet compared to Alaska and California
and Japan, which is true.
MILES O BRIEN: If they were designing the
plant today, says Sykes, the NRC would certainly
take into account the newly discovered seismic
data.
Let's start with the earthquake and paint
the series of sequences that worry you that
could lead to a loss of water and lead to
that release of radioactive material.
LYNN SYKES: Right.
So, one would be if the reactors themselves
are damaged by an earthquake that is large
enough to crack critical components of that
system.
MILES O BRIEN: That would be a pretty big
quake, wouldn't it?
LYNN SYKES: Well, it could be a magnitude
6.
If you have an earthquake that is very close
to Indian Point, it doesn't take as large
an earthquake to cause damage, particularly
if it's shallow.
MILES O BRIEN: And yet you still live here.
LYNN SYKES: I still live here.
I live 17 miles from Indian Point.
MILES O BRIEN: How much concern does that
give you?
LYNN SYKES: It gives me a fair amount of concern,
and one of the reasons is that Indian Point
is closer to more people than any other reactor
in the country.
MILES O BRIEN: Not all experts agree with
Lynn Sykes.
Other geologists claim the Ramapo Fault is
not seismically active, and Entergy's insists
Indian Point could handle a magnitude-7 quake.
The fuel that is in there is all the fuel
that unit three has ever used in the course
of its history?
MAN: Yep, since 1976.
MILES O BRIEN: So, you're full?
MAN: This pool is basically full.
We have an application pending with the NRC.
. . MILES O BRIEN: Nonetheless, with all this
radioactive material on site, Sykes' work
raises an important question: If a powerful
earthquake triggered a series of unforeseen
events, leading to a release of radiation
like Fukushima, how would so many people make
their way to safety?
GWEN IFILL: "Nuclear Aftershocks" can be seen
on PBS' "Frontline" tonight.
Check your local listings for times.
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