"Post-9/11, Opposition to Indian Point Plant Grows" (news article, April 24) highlights the need for the governor and the New York State Legislature to consider exercising the state's power of eminent domain at Indian Point condemning the plant and closing down the facility.

Unless the state takes over the property, the decision as to whether the plant will remain open will rest with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, an appointed board that is not accountable to the public.

In the past six months, 33 municipal elected boards have approved resolutions calling for an Indian Point shutdown. These resolutions get headlines but have no legal value. Those of us who are concerned about the potential threat from Indian Point want action, not rhetoric, from state officials.  
PAUL FEINER
Greenburgh, N.Y., April 24, 2002
The writer is the Greenburgh town supervisor.
 

To the Editor:

Re "Post-9/11, Opposition to Indian Point Plant Grows" (news article, April 24):

The concerns about Indian Point nuclear plant are usually referred to as "fears." As in any difficult business decision, concerned parties assess the upside potential or benefits compared with the downside potential or worst-case risks. When one looks at this equation regarding Indian Point, the risks are simply too great to be acceptable.

In a worst-case scenario that cannot be ruled out after Sept. 11, the damage would be irreparable. A large portion of the New York City and Westchester water supplies are within close proximity to Indian Point. Radioactive contamination could last for decades. The calls for closing the reactors are judgments made after risk assessments, not just knee-jerk fears.  
GARY SHAW
Croton-on-Hudson, N.Y., April 24, 2002

To the Editor:

Re "Post-9/11, Opposition to Indian Point Plant Grows" (news article, April 24):

The opponents of the Indian Point nuclear power plant say they want a shutdown of the facility for the sake of safety. In fact, forcing its closing would create more danger for America than currently exists.

What the protesters fail to recognize is that to replace the lost generating capacity, America would be required to purchase additional oil from Middle Eastern countries money that, as was learned from Sept. 11 and a number of terrorist attacks on American institutions before it, in part directly finances the activities of Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups.

By further lining the terrorists' pockets not to mention backing down in the face of terrorist threats the protesters would be playing into Al Qaeda's hands.
  KURT NIELSEN
Closter, N.J., April 24, 2002

 

To the Editor:

Defending the Indian Point nuclear power plant reactor by asserting that it is a reliable source of cheap electricity is like arguing that a little plutonium dust sprinkled around the kitchen is an effective form of pest control ("Post-9/11, Opposition to Indian Point Plant Grows," news article, April 24).

A Chernobyl-scale disaster highly unlikely but nonetheless possible would require the immediate evacuation of millions of people along roadways that can be impassable at rush hour. It would also lead to a huge swath of land adjacent to Manhattan becoming uninhabitable and probably to a dramatic increase in childhood cancers in surrounding communities.

It is high time this reactor be shut down.  
DAVID HAYDEN
Wilton, Conn., April 25, 2002