Lowey Co-sponsors Legislation To Require Notification Of Radioactive Discharges

WHITE PLAINS, NY – Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland) announced today that she will co-sponsor legislation to require nuclear plant operators to notify the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and state and local officials of unplanned releases of radioactive materials.  In recent months, local officials and the public have been kept in the dark about leaks at the Indian Point power plant.

“The issue is simple:  local officials need to know if radioactive material is being discharged into our communities to protect the public.  I was angry when the NRC and Entergy didn’t immediately notify local officials of a leak at the plant.  And more recently, the state of New York failed to immediately inform local officials that Stronium-90 was found about 100 yards from the Hudson River.  We have to stop this pattern of withholding information related to the health and safety of local residents,” said Lowey.

Under current law, nuclear plant operators are only required to notify state and local officials of unplanned discharges if those discharges pose an immediate threat to public health or safety.  

Congresswoman Nita Lowey today announced that she will co-sponsor H.R. 4825, the Nuclear Release Notice Act, which requires that in the event of an unplanned release, the plant licensee immediately notify the NRC and the state and county in which the facility is located.  Under the legislation, such notification would be required for releases outside of the allowable limits for normal operation or a release within the limits but which occurs more than twice in a two-year period originating from the same source.

Under H.R. 4825, Entergy would have been required to immediately notify the NRC, New York State, and Westchester County of leaks in the spent fuel pool at Indian Point 2 because the releases were outside of those allowed for normal operations at the facility.

“We must bring transparency and notification for local officials into this process so that those entrusted with protecting our communities have the information they need to keep residents safe,” said Lowey.  

Last week, Congresswoman Lowey also joined Congressman Eliot Engel (D-NY17) in urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to initiate an investigation into the Indian Point leak.