NEW YORK, NY August 01, 2008 —Opponents of the Indian Point nuclear power station have scored a victory. A panel of judges has agreed to review some of their concerns about the plant's safety. WNYC's Ilya Marritz has more.

REPORTER: Months from now, the three judges of the Atomic Safety Licensing Board will decide whether Indian Point should be re-licensed so it can operate into the 2030s.

On Thursday, the judges accepted arguments by the State of New York and the group Riverkeeper, by agreeing to consider safety concerns such as possible leaks from spent fuel pools.

That means more hoops to jump through for Indian Point's owner, the Entergy Corporation. No decision is expected on the plant's future until 2009. For WNYC, I'm Ilya Marritz.

HOST: Also yesterday, a panel of scientists commissioned by Entergy said the plant was basically safe, but that its emergency response facilities were out of date.