Paul Newman and Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant

One of my colleagues at NEI just handed me the following statement from actor Paul Newman. Newman toured Entergy's Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant earlier this week, and after the completion of the tour, he issued the following statement which has also been distributed by Entergy and NEI:

Statement of Paul Newman

Indian Point tour of May 21, 2007

I recently toured the Indian Point nuclear plant and I expected to be shown safety and security at the plant. But what I saw exceeded my expectations. No Army or Navy base I’ve ever visited has been more armored and I couldn’t walk 30 feet inside the plant without swiping my key card to go through another security check point.

There was security at every turn, and the commitment to safety is clear. One worker told me his family lives very close to the plant, downwind even, and he is very comfortable because of the plant's commitment to safety.

During my tour of the plant, I was amazed that a generator that is the size of two or three rooms of my home can provide electricity for 1 million people without producing any greenhouse gas emissions.

I know a lot of people are concerned about nuclear waste. All of the spent fuel rods at Indian Point from more than 30 years of generating electricity are stored in a pool that, in my younger days, I could jump across.

Indian Point is an important source of electricity for millions of New Yorkers today. Because it doesn't produce any emissions that cause global warming, Indian Point will be even more important in the future.

Wow. More in a bit as I get details.

UPDATE: Coverage from Mid Hudson News. And please vote for this story over at Technorati at their WTF feature.