Four U.S representatives from New York have requested a federal investigation into Indian Point just days after the plant received a top safety rating from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

The issue that prompted Reps. John Hall, Maurice Hinchey, Eliot Engel and Nita Lowey to call for a probe involves a leak containing small amounts of tritium, a radioactive isotope, which was discovered in an underground pipe Feb. 16.

"If there was a safety issue operators would have shut the plant down, or the plant would have shut down automatically," says Entergy spokesperson Jerry Nappi.

Although the leak apparently posed no threat to the environment, it prompted the four U.S. representatives from the Hudson Valley to ask the NRC to look into the matter.

"It is extraordinary that the NRC should have given Indian Point a pass in their rating," Lowey says. "The public should not have to depend on good luck to make sure there isn't any release at Indian Point."