"We no longer have the resources to provide 24-hour security and will be conducting only random patrols in the near future," Rear Admiral R.E. Bennis said in a letter to Entergy Nuclear, owner of the power plants.

The letter, written last week, was obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press. In an interview, Bennis said the cutback would begin Monday, with equipment and personnel returning to Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Jersey and Virginia.

"This started Sept. 11 as a sort of first-day first-strike, to make sure everything was protected while others came up with a plan," he said. "Any waterfront facility like a nuclear plant has to have a security plan and they have an excellent one. I don't think the plant will be less secure."

Entergy spokesman Jim Steets said the company was "confident in our ability to protect the plant. We were before the Coast Guard came, while they were there and we will continue to be."

Rep. Sue Kelly, R-N.Y., whose district includes the two plants, called the Coast Guard's decision misguided and unwise. Her spokesman said she would ask Tom Ridge, the new director of homeland security, to urge the Coast Guard to continue 24-hour patrols.

The nation's nuclear power plants _ 103 reactors at 64 sites in 31 states _ have been under heightened alert since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. National Guard troops are guarding some reactors, and some plants along Lake Erie and Lake Michigan are being patrolled by the Coast Guard.

The Indian Point plans are just 35 miles north of Times Square. Some experts have said their concrete containment domes could not withstand the impact of airliners like the ones that hit the World Trade Center.

The Coast Guard presence is meant to prevent intrusions from the Hudson River. Other security measures include National Guard troops and Entergy's own security force, which Steets would not describe.

In his letter to Entergy, Bennis recommended "additional security around water intakes" and "full time, armed security on the facility's waterfront, either on foot or in small boats."

Bennis said the Coast Guard would discuss its cutback with law enforcement agencies and local government officials to be certain a satisfactory waterfront security plan is in place.