WASHINGTON, DC – After months of prodding and a recent flood which shut down the emergency siren system, Entergy finally announced today that it would install back-up power for all 156 emergency sirens at Indian Point.

Congresswoman Nita Lowey (D-Westchester/Rockland), a vocal advocate for improved security measures at and around Indian Point, issued the following statement:

“It took too long, but today’s announcement is a welcome sign that Entergy recognizes at least some of the flaws in its current safety system.  After the floods earlier this month, Entergy officials were literally asleep at the switch and didn’t even realize there was a siren outage for hours.  I hope Entergy will move quickly to install a system so that we can be confident that will never happen again.

“This announcement is good news, but even with back-up sirens, Indian Point continues to pose great risks for our community.  I will continue to push for these plants to be shut down and to ensure that they are as safe and secure as possible until they are decommissioned.”

Lowey is the author of the Nuclear Power Licensing Reform Act of 2005, which would ensure that older power plants applying for license renewals, such as Indian Point, must meet the same stringent standards as new plants applying for the first time.  Earlier this year, she also joined Representatives Sue Kelley (R-NY) and Eliot Engel (D-NY) in writing to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission about the NRC’s inadequate policy on acceptable failure rates of emergency sirens.