Indian Point Community Monitoring

Under an agreement approved by the New York State Public Service Commission, Indian Point site owner and decommissioning entity Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC (Holtec) operates a monitoring apparatus for radiological and other potential substances of concern. Much of that monitoring – including at the site perimeter – is expected to conclude in late 2023. 

Based on input from community members, the local school district, local and State elected officials, and academic and advocacy groups, along with research conducted by agency experts and the Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board (DOB) independent technical expert, the DOB confirmed continued air monitoring during the decommissioning of Indian Point beyond 2023 can provide necessary assurance to the community.

To meet that need, a request for proposals (RFP) was issued on January 9, 2023 seeking environmental consulting services to develop and implement a Community Air Monitoring Plan (CAMP) to be in place during the decommissioning of Indian Point.

Until such time that consulting services are procured and a CAMP is developed and operational, existing protocols remain in place to ensure public safety notifications are made and other actions are taken if existing monitors and verification protocols indicate the presence of an imminent risk to the public. In addition, as a cornerstone of each public meeting of the DOB, we will continue to report on the latest readings of the Reuter-Stokes (RS) radiological monitors as well as any actionable anomalies and will continue to do so while the RS monitors remain in commission. Screenshots of those RS monitor updates may be found below.

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requires each commercial nuclear power plant to submit two annual reports, which detail (1) the radioactive effluents discharged from the site, and (2) the effects (if any) on the environment. In addition to these two annual reports, in 2007 each power plant voluntarily submitted answers to a questionnaire related to the voluntary initiative on groundwater protection, initiated by the commercial nuclear power industry.

Indian Point's annual reports may be found here.

A video describing the radiological environmental monitoring program (REMP) required by NRC may be found here.

The New York State Department of Health (DOH) performs water and air environmental radiation surveillance near Indian Point.

Background Readings. This dataset measures the air and water near Indian Point and other locations(background) around NYS to determine the normal levels of radioactivity and monitors the influence of human activities on these levels.

Gamma Radiation Readings. This provides a chart showing Gamma Radiation measurements for Indian Point compared to background measurements collected.

I-131 Readings. This provides a dataset of the iodine-131 concentration in air at a monitoring station adjacent to the Indian Point Energy Center. The increase in iodine-131 concentration during March and April 2011 is due to the Fukushima accident.

Tritium Readings. This provides a dataset comparing the tritium (HTO) concentration in the Hudson River at the Indian Point intake and discharge points. Although tritium is ubiquitous in the environment, periodic increases in tritium concentration at this point are likely due to allowable water discharges from the facility. All discharges are well below regulatory limits.

Additional DOH data may be found at http://www.health.data.ny.gov/.