Nuke Danger Not Deterring Hidy, Gray
By BRIAN HAYDEN
TUESDAY, MARCH 15, 2011
MASSENA - The on-going threat of a nuclear meltdown in tsunami and earthquake ravaged Japan is not deterring Mayor James F. Hidy or Supervisor Joseph D. Gray from their interest in siting a nuclear plant here.
Crews raced Monday to cool one of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station in Japan, after the cooling system at the plant failed following Friday's 8.9 earthquake and tsunami. Thousands were evacuated in the vicinity surrounding the plant for fear of a meltdown.
In January, Mr. Gray and Mr. Hidy proposed siting a nuclear power plant in Massena, explaining that billions of dollars in federally guaranteed loans could fuel such an initiative. Nuclear power could provide additional energy and jobs needed in the north country, the two explained then.
Less than a week after the earthquake, Mr. Gray said much still needs to be learned about the Japan events before any Massena nuclear effort is ended. It is also too early to determine whether the federal loan guarantee program will be curtailed from the Japan catastrophe.
"It is clearly too early to tell what the ultimate impact of this is," Mr. Gray said. "We need to pause and mourn the people that have died in Japan before we start worrying about that stuff."
The catastrophe is allowing nuclear opponents to rally, Mr. Gray said.
"There's no doubt the critics of nuclear power pounced on this and are going to make the most of this," Mr. Gray said. "Should we pause and think about it? Yes. Should we pause in our pursuit? I'm not convinced of that."
Nuclear power still presents one of the most viable options for energy creation and economic development in the north country, Mr. Gray said.
"There is risk involved in everything we do," Mr. Gray said. "Nothing is risk free. Nothing is fail safe."
Mr. Hidy still wanted to press ahead with the initiative and balked at some of the critical comments he has received over the last few days.
"For anybody to come in and start criticizing a program that's still in the best interest and the best way to put people back to work in this region, better know their facts before they start coming in and criticizing the program," he said.
"It's people that are wrapped in the '50s, that fear nuclear, but yet no one in this country has died from nuclear power ... And I'll be willing bet no one in Japan dies because of nuclear fallout."
The greater concern for Massena residents should a major earthquake occur, like the 5.8 magnitude quake that rocked the village in 1944, is the St. Lawrence FDR dam here, Mr. Hidy said.
"What do you think it's going to do to that place?" Mr. Hidy asked. "That's going to flood this whole valley ... That's what we should be afraid of."
Residents could also say good-bye to the St. Lawrence Seaway locks and tunnel in that scenario, Mr. Hidy said.
"The tunnel is cracked anyway. It's leaking like a sieve. What's going to happen to that tunnel if we get a magnitude of a 9 on the Richter Scale? Say good-bye to that tunnel, and any ship that's in it," he said.
"If we have an earthquake of that magnitude, trust me, both of those dams and those locks will be gone."
Bert J. Cunningham, a spokesman for the New York Power Authority, declined to comment on Mr. Hidy's claims Monday night until he could do more research on whether the St. Lawrence-FDR dam was built to withstand an 8.9-magnitude earthquake.
During the last several months, Mr. Hidy said he has been contacting different nuclear companies and asking them for opinions on the feasibility of a plant.
"It's not costing anybody anything. That's the nice part about it," he said.
Any plant in Massena is still a long way off, Mr. Hidy said. By the time one here materializes, nuclear power will have been improved that much more, he claimed.
"It's going to be ancient history," Mr. Hidy said. "You're talking four or five years down the road before it really takes hold of what we're doing."
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