By Riley Gill
New York’s Indian Point nuclear plant suffered a transformer malfunction on Saturday, May 9th, causing worry for residents in the Hudson River Valley..
“There is no doubt that oil was discharged into the Hudson River”, said New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. The amount of oil is astonishing- several thousand gallons drained out into the Hudson after the explosion.
The transformer that failed ruptured during the fire and leaked oil into the ground. The oil was caught in a holding tank, but overflowed and eventually spilled into the river. The oil is currently being contained, and in the next few days an absorbent material will be released into the water to soak up the remaining oil.
The fire that caused the leak started at roughly 6:00 PM on the non-nuclear side of the plant, about 200 yards from the reactor building. Due to the fire one of the reactors automatically shut down. The reactor is in the process of cooling down, and investigators are looking into the cause of the fire. The facility houses two nuclear reactors that power about 25% of New York and Westchester County.
