BY PAUL DeRIENZO | Indian Point — the nuclear power plant 45 miles north of New York City that has been beset by numerous operating headaches over the past year — delivered more bad news to its owner Entergy Corporation last month.
Hundreds of bolts, part of a key component of Indian Point 2, were found to be missing or damaged. The discovery of the missing bolts was the result of a voluntary “reactor vessel internals aging management program” inspection that was voluntarily undertaken by Entergy as part of its license-renewal program.
New York State has been concerned with the safety of the aging nuclear plant since Entergy asked to renew its licenses to operate Indian Point for 20 more years. The inspection included the first-ever examination of the “baffle-former bolts” that surround the radioactive core of the reactor. Corrosion of the bolts has caused trouble in other nuclear power plants around the world.
The Indian Point 2 license expired in 2013 and the license for Indian Point 3 expired last December. Entergy filed for license renewal in 2007.
The inspection occurred during the biannual shutdown and refueling of the Indian Point 2 reactor. Indian Point 3 was refueled during a planned 23-day shutdown last year.
Entergy reported to the Atomic Licensing Board that about 227 of 832 bolts were “indicated” — meaning “missing bolts, and bars meant to hold them in place, and other degradation requiring replacement of the bolts.” The bolts hold the removable liner that surrounds the reactor core and acts as a baffle, directing the immense flow of cooling water that passes through the reactor.
Entergy said the power plant is safe and no radiation was released. Larry Coyle, the site vice president and top official at Indian Point said, “The hundreds of inspections performed over the last few weeks demonstrate these programs work as designed.”
But Dave Lochbaum, director of the Nuclear Safety Project of the Union of Concerned Scientists, said the missing bolts raise troubling questions that “should be answered,” including about the condition of bolts at Indian Point 3 — which is an identical reactor with the same operating history — why the damage wasn’t discovered during previous inspections, what happened to the pieces of broken metal from the bolts and whether they would be recovered.
“Since I.P. 3 is virtually identical in design as I.P. 2,” said Gary Shaw of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, “I.P. 3 should be shut down immediately to examine the integrity of the reactor core liner.”
In a statement, State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said, “For years, my office has raised serious concerns about the aging of components of the Indian Point nuclear plants, including ‘baffle-former’ assembly bolts… . Our concerns have been repeatedly dismissed by Entergy and the N.R.C.”
The state has 35 legal challenges lodged against Indian Point and Governor Andrew Cuomo has supported closing the plant throughout his political career.
According to Schneiderman, the recent series of ongoing problems at Indian Point “underscores real and present safety issues related to continuing to operate this aging nuclear facility in close proximity to more than 17 million people.”
In December, a short circuit at Indian Point 3 was linked to bird poop, called “bird streamers.” The company said the bird excrement damaged insulators and caused an “electrical disturbance,” which “tripped” the reactor, forcing it to shut down. There was no release of radiation from that incident.
Entergy has also reported the leaking of the radioactive contaminant tritium into groundwater beneath the reactors in a separate incident.
There have been seven major incidents at the plant over the past year, including in May when an explosion at a transformer leaked oil into the Hudson River.
Entergy has reported that the problem bolts will delay the restart of Indian Point 2 and increase the cost of the shutdown.
