POLITICAL ARENA

On point

The Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club’s meeting on May 25 was tagged as an open forum on whether the Indian Point nuclear power plant in Buchanan, N.Y., should be closed. But by the end of the evening, it had expanded into a broad discussion on the flaws in our nation’s energy policy.

Held at Tibbett Towers on Irwin Avenue, it pitted Marilyn Elie, longtime activist and leading member of the Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition, against John Durso, executive director of New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance. 

When the meltdown at the Fukushima power plant in Japan resulted in a 50-mile evacuation of its surrounding area, the safety of Indian Point — which is just over 30 miles north of the city — became a hot topic again. 

Last week, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman told the Daily News he thinks the Nuclear Regulatory Commission ignores basic safety standards at Indian Point, including a lack of smoke detectors and fire extinguishers.

Forums like the one on May 25 were common in the 1960s and 1970s, when Indian Point was being built and expanded, and some individuals and organizations have never ceased sounding the alarm about what they see as a catastrophe waiting to happen. 

But like many before him, Mr. Durso argued Indian Point was “clean, efficient and safe,” citing passing grades from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and PlaNYC stats on how crucial nuclear energy is to powering the city. 

Then there was Ms. Elie, who lives two miles from Indian Point and said that it needs to be shut down because,  although there is a low probability of terrorism and natural disaster, the risk is too high. Especially, she said, because New York City gets only 5 percent of its energy from Indian Point. Mr. Durso argued it was closer to 30 percent (the same number given by the Independent System Operator, which monitors the state’s electricity market). He said shutting it down would result in a $1.5 billion increase in energy costs over the next decade. 

That’s where alternatives to nuclear energy came into the discussion. 

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