A natural gas pipeline does not pose a significant danger to the nearby Indian Point Energy Center in upstate New York, according to a team of experts formed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The report, from agency personnel and outside specialists, was filed with the industry regulator on April 8 and made public Wednesday.
“The team determined that, even though Entergy (the plant owner) and the NRC made some optimistic assumptions in analyzing potential rupture of the 42-inch natural gas transmission pipeline, the Indian Point reactors remain safe,” according to the findings.
The nuclear power plant in Buchanan, N.Y., has three reactors. Unit 1 was retired in 1974, with Unit 2 scheduled to close by the end of this month and Unit 3 next April. Entergy plans to sell the facility to energy technology company Holtec International for decommissioning.
In a Feb. 13 report, the NRC inspector general found errors in the agency’s analysis of potential hazards from the pipeline that began operations in 2017 and crosses the Indian Point property. For one, according to the IG, the “NRC’s inspection report contained inaccuracies suggesting additional analysis had been conducted, when this was not the case.”
The expert team, however, determined that the pipeline was not likely to rupture, and that even that happened it is far enough away from the nuclear plant to prevent damage.
The report does include a number of recommendations for the NRC. Broadly, the agency should “improve its processes and practices for technical reviews, inspection support, petition reviews, pipeline analysis, and coordination with other agencies,” it says.
