Not safe. Not secure. Not vital.

The Examiner is a local paper that is available for free in many towns here in Westchester county. After reading an editorial this week in the March 22nd edition, I went on a slow boil. The editorial suggested that Indian Point, the aging nuclear power plant on the Hudson river is safe from earthquakes. On the next page, I found a 1/2 page advertisement for Entergy, the owners of Indian Point along with a 1/2 page “know your neighbor” piece that is “brought to you by Entergy”

As you might know, I have a history of being an Angry Mom, so when I start to go on a slow boil about something that enrages me, I do something. Something constructive so that I don’t have a meltdown.  So here’s what I did: I wrote a Letter to the Editor over at the Examiner. Here’s a copy of it just in case it doesn’t get published in the paper. If it doesn’t get published, I’m going to start asking questions as to whether the Examiner is a newspaper or just fancy advertising. As with everything, its a question of follow the money.

Martin Wilbur- Editor in Chief mwilbur@theexaminernews.com

Quake or No Quake, Indian Point is Not Safe

To the Editor,

When reading the Examiner, I’ve always noticed that Entergy, the owner of Indian Point, is a big advertiser. They sponsor the Know Your Neighbor articles and they usually take a ½ page ad in the paper as well.  Its great to see you’ve got such a loyal advertising customer, I’m sure it helps with your paper’s bottom line.

That being said, I was not happy to see the piece on your editorial page entitled , Indian Point’s Quake Fears Exaggerated.  Quake or no quake, Indian Point is not safe, secure or vital as its advertising likes to say.  I have to ask, does your editorial opinion have any thing to do with the advertising revenue you receive from Entergy?

You write:

“Let’s hope those who are sounding the alarms about Indian Point aren’t using the tragedy in Japan as a way to further their goal of closing the plant.”

Just as 9/11 rocked our world and our world view, the earthquake and tsunami in Japan on 3/11 has had a world wide impact on our perception of the grim reality of nuclear power: its risks outweigh the benefits.

How many pounds of nuclear waste in the form of spent fuel rods are at Indian Point? Vermont Yankee nuclear energy plant, another Entergy property, has 690 tons of spent fuel rods on site.  We are certainly learning how dangerous those spent fuel rods can be as the world watches Japan struggle to get theirs under control at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

6% of the US population lives within 50 miles of this risky nuke plant on the Hudson.  Tsunami or not, an effective evacuation is not possible. Heck, we can’t get from point A to point B here in Westchester with a little rain on the roads!

The closing of Indian Point could be the silver lining of the nuclear catastrophe in Japan. Governor Cuomo has said he wants to see the aging Indian Point plant closed.

The discussions on this challenging topic have only just begun. I hope your paper will give an equal voice to both sides of this argument no matter who buys ad space.

Susan Rubin

Chappaqua