Federal lawmakers: ‘The NRC chose to ignore our repeated requests for a public hearing’ on the transfer of Indian Point’s licenses

U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand, joined by Representatives Nita Lowey, Eliot Engel and Sean Patrick Maloney issued the following joint response Monday to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff’s approval of the application to transfer Indian Point’s licenses from Entergy to Holtec International and to allow the company to use funds from the plant’s nuclear decommissioning trusts for spent fuel storage and site restoration:

Today’s announcement by the NRC is an insult to New Yorkers who have sought to have their voices heard before any action was taken by NRC staff to approve the transfer of Indian Point’s license from Entergy to Holtec International.

The NRC chose to ignore our repeated requests for a public hearing before approving the industry requests that will allow Holtec to take over the plant’s licenses and use money in the nuclear decommissioning trusts for spent fuel storage and site restoration.

We are deeply concerned by the NRC’s lack of transparency and unwillingness to substantively respond to requests that have been pending before the commission for nine months.

Despite (the NRC staff announcement), we renew our call for a public hearing and strongly urge the NRC Commissioners to fully and transparently evaluate the pending petitions without further delay.