by Jean Carlos Soto
In order to properly address my impressions and overall view on my visit to the Indian Point Energy Center and Nuclear Power in general, I would have to visualize myself a resident near the power plant and address all my concerns, and at the end decide whether or not I would remain in such proximity to a Nuclear Power plant. Prior to our visit to Indian Point, my views on nuclear power and the power plants that produced it had always been fueled by how it is portrayed through media and literature. It was clearly a controversial topic that sparked the imagination and fear of the public.
The negative aspects of nuclear power had always been frequently publicized—when one hears the word “nuclear,” the image that comes to mind is of a mushroom cloud formed after an atomic bomb, or more precisely a fission bomb, is dropped. It is no help for the reputation of Nuclear Energy that the image is then connected to World War II and the devastating effects the fission and fusion bombs had on Japan, at the moment of impact and the physical and psychological state of the people for years to come. Of course, despite their obvious common factor, Nuclear Energy and Nuclear bombs are separate entities: Nuclear bombs are meant to create destruction, whereas Nuclear Energy is meant to provide power for a large population. Yet, Nuclear Power plants are often still scrutinized.
When we arrived at the Indian Point facility, we were immediately taken into a building at the outermost area to receive our temporary I.D. badges. This was but one of the many security measures taken to keep unwanted individuals and groups out of the innermost areas without proper validation. Though this was a relatively simple procedure, the further we toured into the facility the more heightened the security became. This is a very significant issue because ever since 9/11 there has been great concern over whether or not terrorists could infiltrate or attack Indian Point, as it may be an alluring target due to its proximity to New York City.
At first appearance, it would appear that any direct attack would be futile against the defenses prepared. If terrorists were to attack the plant, one would assume the primary targets, by air, would be the twin domes or containment buildings that house the two reactors. However, the containment buildings are built in such a way that a plane would be incinerated if it flew into them. This is due to its architecture. The buildings have skeletons of steel reinforcing bars within a thick, 3.5 to 4.5 feet of concrete, which then has a relatively thin layer of steel liner added on the surface. Therefore, an airplane strike on the containment buildings themselves would not concern me at all as a resident living nearby. There have also been videos of containment buildings being tested for its endurance with empty airplanes—all of which ended the same way: the plane yielding no effect.
Although a direct air strike would not concern me, recent articles from different newspapers have shed light on a possibly troubling issue: that the guards may not be as alert as one would hope. Many of the safety precautions and lines of defense against intruders involve security guards and other personnel; this makes the security susceptible to the condition and mindset of those who are on guard. All the best security measures would mean nothing if, say, the guards were distracted or had fallen asleep. When we visited the power plant, I personally did not witness any security guards blatantly slacking off, but we had only come into contact with each set of guards only briefly and had not seen all of them. But if these allegations were true, then they would pose a threat to the security of the facility.
But something must be said of the power plant’s outer security design. To me, it seems very strategic and fortified when considering all the details put into the design itself. Even if an intruder were able to get through the first area, he would still have to deal with the double fence that surrounds the inner, protected area of the facility. According to our guide, the fence was very well monitored, either visually through cameras or a motion sensor—either way, if someone were to merely touch it, armed men would supposedly appear immediately to question you. Also worth mentioning are the numerous watchtowers, which are supplied with artillery weapons, placed around the perimeters of the inner, “vital” area where an armed guard would always be on duty. The further we entered into the facility, the more of these we would see in our path. And as long as these watchtowers are occupied with alert guards, then the design seems reliable to defend against an on-foot invasion.
Another concern I would have as a resident is the containment building itself. One of the primary fears of living so close to a Nuclear Power plant is being exposed to radiation. Most people are aware that within the large grey dome, the nuclear reactor resides. So the idea of the containment building cracking is frightening because one would assume that radiation might seep through the cracks. However, this is untrue. If in the unlikely event the dome breaks, nothing would happen. The building itself functions as a safety precaution.
The entire process of generating power, including all the radioactive material, is contained within a closed-pipe system. If one were to remove the dome, the equipment would be more vulnerable and naked, but nothing necessarily would happen. However, if the pipes within the containment building were to break, all of the pressurized vapor within the primary piping system would condense into a liquid and the structure would almost immediately be filled with gallons of water. Although the thought of the pipe where the most radioactive material is found breaking and releasing all that liquid is not a pleasant one, the fact that the containment building is there to act as a barrier between the public and the liquid would be reassuring.
But the containment building may actually be enough to reduce the impact of a meltdown or explosion, and prevent radiation from entering the atmosphere and affecting nearby residents. The Indian Point containment buildings now seem to be a lot more fortified and reliable than the reactors of the Chernobyl nuclear facilities, which was of a different design and lacked any protective containment structure, primarily due to the cost expenses of building one. Although human error, or inadequately trained operators, was the main cause of the Chernobyl accident, the flaws with the reactor design, and the type of reactor it was, also played a crucial role.
The reactor of the Chernobyl facility was a graphite-moderated reactor, which used carbon to slow down the speed of neutrons in order for a nuclear-chain reaction to occur with the uranium-235. During the accident, the carbon was heated to such a degree that it ignited, causing a fire that projected radioactive material further into the atmosphere. If the reactor were of a different design, then the material would not have spread across the land as much, if at all. Indian Point, in contrast, uses pressurized water reactors, where no graphite is used, and more significantly, it contains a containment dome to protect the reactors. All this means is that Indian Point has a much better chance of avoiding such a catastrophe like Chernobyl, and that by living nearby the facility it is highly unlikely that you will see another Chernobyl accident.
At the Indian Point facility, we entered an exact duplicate of the control room that monitors the pipes, the reactor, and all the other machinery involved in process of generating nuclear energy. The way they operated the controls was very systematic, which reduced the possibility of human error, and very precautious. There would be at least three to four operators overseeing all the different information being gathered by the monitors in the control room, and at least one person would oversee the other three. Also, to minimize human error, they never memorize any of the information, but rather always refer to a large book of instructions that tell them how to proceed with fixing any of the issues, displayed by one or more flashing lights. They also have at least one red button in each of the sections, all with the same purpose: dropping the control rods in the reactor, which would effectively stop the nuclear-chain reaction and shut down the reactor, or even the entire unit where the problem was related. It appears that the facility’s default reaction to any potentially dangerous or risky issue with any of the equipment is to just shut down the entire unit as a precaution and then to make any modifications needed. This is much better than the alternative of ignoring any potential problem until it is serious enough that it must be dealt with immediately.
If I were a resident, one important concern I would have for living nearby Indian Point, or a concern with nuclear power plants in general, is the effect the facility has on the environment. It only makes sense that I would be concerned with the air I breathe and the water I drink and use nearby a facility with potentially harmful material to me. Also, as it is an ecosystem, filled with different forms of life, they may also be affected by the process of producing nuclear energy. The pumps that draw water from the river to flow through a tertiary pipe especially affect marine life.
Through an environmentalist perspective there are some benefits to using Nuclear power as an alternative source of using fossil fuels. There are negligible to no greenhouse emissions from nuclear power, so it would not pollute the air as much as burning oil or coal to generate electricity. To better describe the impact made by using nuclear energy rather than a fossil fuel, a comparison can be made: one pellet of uranium-235 would generate as much energy as using roughly 2,000 lbs. of coal, and would avoid that much pollution entering the atmosphere.
However, nearly any type of power plant has an affect on the environment and pose big ecosystem risks, as well. Hydroelectric power plants conventionally require the area behind the dam to be flooded in order to create a reservoir of water to be forced through a pipe and to rotate a turbine; this of course has a very detrimental affect on the ecosystem above and below the dam, depending on how much land was flooded. There is also the impending threat of the dam breaking and flooding homes at the lower parts of the river. Power plants that use fossil fuels generate a lot of pollution, affecting the air breathed in by nearby inhabitants, including the wildlife.
With the exception of the renewable resources, all the other forms of fuel require large amounts of water from rivers to cool and condense the heated vapor in the pipes, which tends to cause some issue and concern with the marine life. In the case of Indian Point, roughly 1.6 million gallons of water is sucked through the tertiary pump, and of course a lot of marine life is sucked in as well. To remedy this, two screenings were placed at the entrance of the pipe: a large and a small one to prevent fish from being swallowed inside and as a result more than 98% of them return back to the river unharmed. When we visited Indian Point, we were taken outside to the end of the facility, right by the Hudson River. There we were able to look down into the exit pipe, which took water from the Hudson, and we just stared into it for about five minutes. The entire time, we saw nothing but leaves and not a single fish swam through, dead or alive.
Another environmental problem concerning the usage of water from the Hudson River, in the case of Indian Point, but also from any river for a Nuclear Power plant is that the water returning back into the river is warmer than what came out. This causes the ambient temperature of the river to change, which often kills fish and other organisms that have adjusted themselves to a certain temperature. This is considered thermal pollution. However, power plants use cooling systems to bring down the temperature of the used water in order to reduce thermal pollution.
But the cooling system it uses now may still be doing harm. Indian Point currently uses Cooling Towers, which do bring the temperature of the water down, but they also spew out salt particles into the air. This would be very concerning to anyone living nearby because no resident would want to breathe in salt like he would breathe in air. Also, according to a New York Time’s article in 2010, it was said that cars in the parking lot of the facility would often be found covered with a layer of salt. This would definitely be one of my criticisms of the power plant.
At the Indian Point facility, our guide pointed out large container structures that held used fuel waste. Although we were unable to see the spent fuel storage that is kept under a pool of water and boric acid, we were still given information about it. So far, there are 36 years of fuel waste stored in that pool, with numerous containers outside, around the facility, in what is called dry caste storage. What is most fascinating about the stored fuel waste is that it could be reused to fuel a reactor if it was reprocessed. According to our guide, only 5% of the storage was used leaving 95% of untapped radioactive material. By design, the material is meant to be reused after being reprocessed in another location. The only reason why there is waste, according to the guide, is because the federal government has been preventing reprocessing for political reasons. But if the material can be reused, then it would be a very efficient fuel and it would be a great advantage for the Nuclear Power plant facilities—considering that there are about 104 operating nuclear reactors across the country, each with its own stored fuel waste. The only danger I can see from reprocessing is the vulnerability of transporting radioactive material, and the need, as a safety precaution, to protect it from anyone trying to steal it.
It was an unusual visit to Indian Point, because it did not feel unusual. Nuclear power and nuclear facilities have been portrayed in such a light that one would expect to find oddities around the facility. I half hoped to find oddities around the facility. But it was simply a power plant like any of the others that differed because it used a potentially dangerous fuel source in a very dangerous chain reaction to produce a lot of electricity for the areas, and the city, nearby. Is it a perfect fuel source? Like any of the other sources of energy, nuclear energy has its limitations and its drawbacks, but with the development of more efficient materials and technologies, the benefits may overshadow them and prevent future disasters. Nuclear power is very valuable as an energy source and if I were a resident living in the area nearby, I may not move because I feel confident enough in the structure and the technologies of the facility to not fear a disaster; nevertheless, hopefully human error, the guards, and the environmental issues are dealt with and improved upon in the future.
