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. 

Entergy Corporation, the parent company of the Indian Point nuclear power plants in Buchanan, today released a statement about the recent events in Japan.

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.

Control room operators are expected to remove the Indian Point 3 nuclear power plant in Buchanan from service tonight to repair a leak from a pipe that carries non-radioactive river water to the plant.