Safety concerns shut down a reactor at the Indian Point nuclear facility this morning.

Officials from Entergy, the company that owns and operates the nuclear power plant in Buchanan, say the discovery of the faulty and missing bolts from nuclear reactor #2 means a planned outage will now be extended for several weeks.

Reactor 2 was shut down on March 7 for a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage. It's done every two years as is required by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the company says hundreds of inspections are conducted during that time.

During one of those inspections, more than 2,000 bolts were checked. Each bolt, about 2 inches long and made of stainless steel, hold plate inserts together inside the reactor. Inspectors found that 12 bolts were missing and that 208 are worn down or damaged.

In a statement, the company says there is no impact on public health or safety. "Safety is always our first priority, and the hundreds of inspections performed over the last few weeks demonstrate these programs work as designed," says Larry Coyle, site vice president and Entergy's top official at Indian Point.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo released a statement that while agreeing that the faulty or missing bolts posed no danger, he also said this latest incident raises concerns about the plant's management and that state officials will continue to investigate the plant's operations. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is deciding whether to relicense the over 40-year-old facility for another 20 years.

Officials at the Riverkeeper environmental watchdog organization say that latest safety concern at Indian Point raises more doubt about the reliability of the aging nuclear facility and its management. "There's no putting a brave face on this for Entergy. The core of Reactor 2 is damaged and Reactor 3's core -- virtually identical in age and operating history -- could be as well. So this announcement calls into question the soundness of both reactors. While Reactor 2 is closed for further inspection and repair, we call for Reactor 3 to also close for the health and welfare of the 20 million people who live and work within the zone of potential greatest damage," says Riverkeeper President Paul Gallay.