Indian Point owner says it will install backup power for sirens

WHITE PLAINS - The owner of the Indian Point nuclear plant, prodded by politicians and two recent power failures, said late last week that it will install backup power for the 156 sirens that are meant to warn nearby residents of an emergency. Twenty of the sirens were out of order after a thunderstorm on the night of July 27, and the entire system was down for nearly six hours July 19 when power was lost to a signal transmitter. Sixteen of the sirens are located in the Orange County communities of Woodbury, Tuxedo, Cornwall and Highland Falls. Westchester County Executive Andrew Spano has been demanding a backup, and U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton recently inserted a provision into the pending Nuclear Security Act of 2005 that would require it. Mike Kansler, president of Entergy Nuclear Northeast, the owner of the plant in Buchanan, said, "We are simply not satisfied with the equipment and agree with Senator Clinton and other government officials that the public deserves better." Clinton called the announcement an "important change" and added, "It's the right thing to do for the safety and security of the people who live around the plant." Spano said, "I'm happy that Entergy is responding now, but they should learn to respond not just to crises but to logic." Entergy said it would begin the design process by meeting with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state Emergency Management Office, its own security consultants and officials from the four counties within 10 miles of the plant - Westchester, Rockland, Orange and Putnam. The plant is 35 miles north of midtown Manhattan.