Two weeks after a state-sponsored report said emergency planning was inadequate to protect residents from an extensive radioactive release from the Indian Point nuclear plant, four nearby counties have come to the same conclusion and refused to certify the evacuation plan required by federal officials to keep the plant in operation. Gov. George E. Pataki faces a Friday deadline to certify the same plan. As that day approaches, opponents of the plant here, 35 miles north of Midtown Manhattan, feel they are closer than ever to achieving something never before done: persuading the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to force the permanent closure of an operating nuclear plant. In fact, with the press of a button, technicians can drop carbon rods down inside the nuclear reactors at Indian Point, ending the splitting of atoms and the generation of electricity. Despite the widespread post-9/11 security concerns that have made Indian Point the subject of enormous anxiety across New York’s northern suburbs, its future is dependent on a complicated web of safety and economic issues, with or without the possibility of a calamitous terrorist attack. Full Story
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