Today, more than 90 people joined a virtual briefing hosted by Food & Water Watch on the safe handling of nuclear wastewater at the shuttered Indian Point nuclear plant. Nuclear engineer and decommissioning expert Arnie Gundersen, who headlined the briefing, called for on-site nuclear fuel storage to protect air, water and public health.

The briefing comes two weeks before a December 6 Indian Point Decommissioning Board Oversight meeting where advocates will call for on-site nuclear fuel storage.

Food & Water Watch Senior New York Organizer Santosh Nandabalan issued the following statement:

“New Yorkers celebrated a tremendous victory against corporate polluters this summer, when Governor Hochul signed the ‘Save the Hudson’ bill into law, saving our beloved Hudson River from becoming a nuclear waste dump. We must now remain vigilant against Holtec’s efforts to prioritize corporate expediency over environmental and public health. Storing Holtec’s waste on-site is the only option to safeguard our air, water and health against dangerous nuclear contamination — Governor Hochul must support this alternative to dumping and direct her agencies to call for on-site storage for the radioactive wastewater at Indian Point.”

Widespread outrage against decommissioning corporation Holtec International’s initial plan to dump more than one million gallons of toxic radioactive wastewater from the Indian Point site into the Hudson River led to Governor Hochul’s signing the “Save the Hudson” bill into law in August. The legislation is expected to stop the dump, which was opposed by at least 35 Hudson River localities, 138 groups and nearly 500,000 people.