NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman has filed a petition with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) urging it to take action against Indian Point for its failure to comply with fire safety regulations.

Congresswoman Nita Lowey and Congressman Eliot Engel are calling on the House Energy and Commerce Committee to hold hearings on the licensing of what they are calling "High risk nuclear facilities" such as Indian Point, which are located in densely populated areas.  

Engel, a senior member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee said, "It is time for the NRC to realize that natural disasters and terrorism are all too real. Because of its location it is too inviting a target." He also expressed deep concerns that the plants are built along the Ramapo fault. 

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has promised to make Indian Point its first and top priority in its review of seismic risks at 27 nuclear power plants throughout the country.

Lieutenant Governor Robert Duffy and Director of State Operations, Howard Glaser met today at NRC headquarters in Maryland with top NRC officials on the issue of safety regarding the Buchanan nuclear power plants.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino says he and other County officials, including Commissioner of Emergency Services, Anthony Sutton, are on top of the latest happenings in Japan following last week's devastating earthquake and tsunami.

Authorities, he says, have also been in constant touch with Entergy, the company that owns and operates Indian Point, as well as repesentatives of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the Nuclear Regulatory Commision(NRC), the State Office of Emergency Management and the County's congressional delegation.

The County Executive warned that while it is important to follow the unfolding nuclear crisis in Japan, it's equally important not to rush to judgement concerning Indian Point. "With regard to Indian Point, it is always safety first. The most important thing we can do right now is gather the facts and do it in a steady,comprehensive way so that we have the best information possible available to us," said Astorino.

As nuclear fears persist in Japan following a massive earthquake and devastating tsunami, some Westchester residents have been questioning whether or not such a thing could happen here.

Indian Point officials say control room operators at the Indian Point Energy Center will shut down the unit 3 nuclear power plant for its 16th scheduled refueling outage around midnight tonight.

Plant owner Entergy says Unit 3 has been online generating electricity more than 97% of the time since it returned to service from its last refueling outage in April 2009.

During the planned outage, workers are expected to perform "hundreds of scheduled maintenance activities" and other improvements to the plant.

Indian Point 3 has returned to service, according to plant owner Entergy, which says the plant was back online as of 9 p.m. Friday evening. 

Control room operators took the IP3 offline earlier this week to repair a leak from a pipe that carries non-radioactive river water to the plant.

The river water contained in the pipe is used to control components in the turbine building located on the non-nuclear side of the facility.

The pipe leak had been located outdoors between the river and the building that houses the turbines and generator.