Elana Levin

Radioactive in the Afterlife: My faith in Indian Point Restored

I love trade advertisements. I really do.

Reading my latest issue of Crains New York Business, I see the back page ad space bought by an energy company called Entergy.

It features a large photo of a smiling woman in front of a church window. The caption by her head reads "Wife, mother, minister, scientist, Entergy employee". She is an Associate Minister but also helps run Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant.

They quote her saying "If I didn't believe that Indian Point was safe, I wouldn't work for Entergy."

The implication is that, even if we don't trust the Entergy corporation to prevent a nuclear catastrophe, we should trust this woman because she is a religious leader.

Now, I'm a somewhat religious person, but I really don't want a faith-based nuclear power plant evacuation plan.

Entergy runs the notorious, noxious nuclear power plant located right outside of NYC called "Indian Point". It leaks on and off. Members of Congress have called the evacuation plan "a farce". Former FEMA Director and leading expert (ie. not Brownie) James Lee Witt has called the evacuation plans neither realistic nor practicable.

It is also an obvious terrorist target. Riverkeeper.org explains:

Twenty million people live within the 50-mile "peak injury" zone of Indian Point, located 24 miles north of the Bronx...Due to the plant's vulnerability to a terrorist attack, a laundry list of safety problems, the storage of 1500 tons of radioactive waste onsite, and the lack of a workable evacuation plan, Riverkeeper is calling for the permanent closure of the Indian Point nuclear power plant.

Even folks that are pro-nuclear power have said they want this particular plant either closed, due to its proximity to the city OR run by someone else, you know, someone competent.

But all my concerns over a nuclear holocaust and for the low-income families I have seen eating fish they caught in the adjacent river have been assuaged by knowing that a woman of faith says its all ok.

Hey- in Bushworld we have faith-based programs for everything, why not add faith-based nuclear powerplant safety to the list? I can always sue Entergy from the afterlife, right?
Wait.. its a Limited Liability Company.

Elana Levin: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 12:32 PM, Dec 29, 2005 in Cities | New York | Nuclear Power
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