Gov. Cuomo got a well-deserved slap upside the head yesterday from the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“This is really not a serious concern,” said NRC spokeswoman Elizabeth Hayden, referring to a new safety review of the Indian Point plant by her agency in the wake of Japan’s nuclear crisis.

That is, it’s not so serious that it would be started anytime this year, she said.

Contrast that with Cuomo’s alarmist claim that Indian Point would be the NRC’s “first and top priority” and that it would do an “expeditious” review.

Cuomo, of course, has been looking to stir up anti-nuke hysteria since the crisis in Japan first emerged.

Yesterday, he again called on federal officials to help “get answers for the people of New York.”

Sheesh! You’d almost think Indian Point were about to explode!

At least the NRC hasn’t lost its cool.

“I know what [Cuomo] said,” Hayden explained yesterday, but the NRC’s review “won’t start until 2012.”

Sure, safety reviews make sense, post-Japan. But Indian Point already has safeguards against earthquakes at least as great as what this region has ever seen.

Besides, why would Cuomo rile up anti-nuke activists seeking to shut the plant ASAP — when he knows full well there’s no way to replace its 2,000 megawatts of electricity anytime soon?

That’s not responsible leadership.

That’s not good governance.

New Yorkers are expecting more than that from their new gov.

He might take a tip from the NRC.