White Plains CitizeNetReporter - Aviation Expert Comments on King's Indian Point Domes

WPCNR VOX POPULI. August 23, 2003:As a follow-up to Councilman King's comment regarding hardening the domes over the Indian Point reactors -- One of my fields of expertise is aviation. As a practical matter, damage to nuclear facilities at the plant which might be caused by an "attack" on the plant using a "general aviation" aircraft (small plane) is nil...(comment continues, CLICK ON "READ MORE")

The risk of damage to the active nuclear portions of the plant (reactor vessels) from an attack by a large air carrier aircraft also is nil, although there certainly could be extensive physical damage to various non-hardened buildings and outdoor equipment (i.e., transmission lines). It is inappropriate for me to publish all of the technical details upon which I'm basing the above statements.

In a sense, there already are "double" domes protecting the reactors: first, the steel reinforced concrete domes which everyone sees as the signature of the power plant's profile, and, second, the interior vessels housing the reactors themselves.

While adding "outer" domes surrounding the existing ones would, indeed, add a redundant layer of protection, I believe this is of lower priority than adding redundant protection to the buildings housing the spent fuel rod pools. The walls and roofs of the existing buildings are steel framework covered by metal sheeting.

During the Council of Neighborhood Association's field trip to Indian Point, I suggested to a representative of Entergy that added protection could be quickly put into place around the spent fuel rod pools by building an exterior latice of steel beams covered by a second layer of sheet metal walls and roof.

Spent fuel storage, and disposition of this "used" nuclear material, will continue to be an issue for years to come even if the generation sections of the plant were to be shut down immediately, as some have urged.

-- Peter Katz

White Plains, NY


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