Reopen Indian Point? NY Republicans would like it to happen, and organized labor, too

 State Sen. Thomas O’Mara’s upstate New York district spans the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier, regions that get their energy from hydro, nuclear and wind power.

He’s watched as the downstate region has struggled with an uptick in fossil fuel use ever since the nuclear power generated at Indian Point in Westchester County left the energy grid after the plant’s 2021 shutdown.

So, O’Mara and several Republican colleagues last month drafted a bill that would create a commission on reopening Indian Point, part of a broader GOP strategy to recast the state’s energy future.

Ambitious climate goals that lean heavily on wind and solar power “overlooked the immense potential of the clean, renewable energy source we had just eliminated – nuclear power,” the bill’s justification notes.

 

“It really shows that we have no plan and the way we’re going about it is certainly not working right,” O’Mara said.

Downstate Democrats reacted with the legislative equivalent of the Bronx cheer, suggesting the bill was political theater that will go nowhere in a Legislature where they control the votes.

"Indian Point is closed and defueled,” said State Sen. Pete Harckham, whose district includes Indian Point in the village of Buchanan.  “This bill will never make it to the floor. Indian Point will be re-nuclearized when Elvis Presley makes his comeback tour.”

He added that if his Republican colleagues were that interested in nuclear power “they are welcome to invite atomic energy into their own communities.”

Harckham’s Assembly counterpart, Dana Levenberg, said the state should be focused on installing more solar panels on rooftops and building more transmission lines than spending their time on such “nonsense.”

Last year, both lawmakers successfully petitioned Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign a bill that will prevent Indian Point’s owners from discharging radioactive water into the Hudson River.

“Beyond the technical problems with that idea, we know from last year's fight over the water discharges - a fight joined by nearly 500,000 New Yorkers - that this region will not stand for it,” Levenberg said. “This proposal is a political stunt - very typical of a party that seems determined to take us backward into the past.”

Ouch.

O’Mara gets it. He’s been in the minority before. And it is, after all, an election year for all 213 state lawmakers.

“Frankly I don’t care whether it’s my bill or a bill that a majority member carries,” O’Mara said. “We’ve got to get the discussion started.”

Gov. Kathy Hochul sees future that includes reliance on nuclear power

At an energy summit in Syracuse earlier this month, Hochul voiced support for an all-of-the-above approach to solving the state’s future energy needs that would include nuclear power. Her comments put nuclear energy in the forefront of discussions about achieving the state's climate goals.

Kathy Hochul:Nuclear power needs to be in NY energy mix to achieve climate goals

But the testy back-and-forth over O'Mara's proposal serves as a reminder that any debate over the state’s energy future will continue to be framed by deeply-entrenched political beliefs about nuclear power.

An anti-nuclear movement born in the 1960s, and forged by accidents at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima, continues to engage environmental groups traditionally aligned with Democrats and progressives.

As Hochul spoke in Syracuse, activists protested on the street outside.

“Our climate future is at a crossroads, and Hochul is perilously close to taking a dangerous step in the wrong direction,” Food & Water Watch’s New York State Director Laura Shindell said. “Gov. Hochul must fight for the climate law she flouts, starting with an absolute refusal to bring more dangerous nuclear reactors to New York.”

Shindell and others point to the radioactive waste generated by nuclear fission that will remain in the environment for decades to come. At Indian Point, 125 cement and steel casks house the remains of spent fuel collected over six decades that will remain there until the federal government finds a place to store the nation’s radioactive waste.

Despite those concerns, as it becomes clear the state will not achieve climate goals of 70% reliance on renewables for energy by 2030 and zero emissions by 2040, nuclear power has emerged as a possible solution.

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A 24-page blueprint commissioned by the New York Energy Research and Development Authority released recently cites a potential role for advanced nuclear technology. “It may represent an opportunity for additional grid capacity to support an electrifying economy, that can complement New York’s buildout of renewables,” the report notes.

In Washington, a Biden Administration plan to ease the path for next generation reactors like small, factory-built modular reactors has won bipartisan support.

Organized labor seeks return of good-paying nuclear plant jobs

Could downstate Democrats opposed to nuclear power in their districts find themselves out of step with their own party?

Organized labor leaders traditionally aligned with state Democrats think so.

They would like to see a return of the good-paying jobs that Indian Point provided their membership for decades.

Labor groups were stung when Gov. Andrew Cuomo sided with environmental groups like Riverkeeper and others to broker the 2017 agreement that shut the plant down. Former Riverkeeper president Paul Gallay called the plant “our biggest existential threat in the region.”

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“It was a shock to everybody,” said Thomas Carey, the chairman of the Westchester Putnam Central Labor Body, an AFL-CIO affiliate. “I think Gov. Cuomo at the time just finally gave up. It’s like somebody nagging at you, right? Your kids say  ‘I want that Xbox, I want that Xbox.’ Finally, you cave in, right? You say, ‘Geez, I just can’t take it.' And I think that’s exactly what happened in Cuomo’s case.”

Cuomo is not opposed to nuclear power. His administration agreed to $7.6 billion in subsidies to keep open three upstate nuclear plants – two in Oswego County on Lake Ontario and R.E. Ginna near Rochester. And in May, Cuomo joined the board of Nano Nuclear, which develops small-scale nuclear reactors.

But Carey, who once made a six-figure income as a steamfitter at Indian Point, says the pendulum is swinging back.

“I think nuclear is the cleanest, safest way to go,” he said. “The technology is forever changing. I think you’re going to see an upswing in people supporting nuclear power. I mean, the job creation alone and what it’s going to do for the tax base, especially in this area.”

The shutdown eliminated millions of dollars in property taxes from Buchanan’s annual budget. Support for the plant was always strong and remains so.

“It just amazes me that it took seven years to realize what a mistake it was to close it,” said Theresa Knickerbocker, Buchanan’s mayor.  “I appreciate the efforts of this group to explore reopening or reuse of this property. As a host community we knew how important it is for clean, reliable base power not dependent on weather not only to our community but to the grid.”

Buchanan mayor favors small nuclear reactor at Indian Point

Restarting Indian Point is likely not an option. The site’s reactors are being demolished and their parts are being shipped out of state.  

But Knickerbocker thinks the site could be a candidate for a small modular reactor, technology that is years away from widespread commercial use.

The 2017 shutdown agreement would allow for nuclear power on the site if local, county and state officials agree.

The plant’s current owners, New Jersey-based Holtec, develops small modular reactors and is willing to discuss the potential for bringing the technology to Indian Point. Holtec this year received a $1.52 billion loan from the U.S. Department of Energy to restart a shuttered nuclear power plant in Michigan.

Organized labor plans to make its position known when and if the discussions occur.

James Slevin, the president of the Utility Workers Union of America with 43,000 members, said the union won’t be drowned out by other voices like it was when nuclear power plants were deregulated in the 1990s.

“It was a voice,” Slevin said. “Now their voices are louder, and they should be.”

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“I don’t think you’re going to see the same energy transition that you saw years ago,” be added. “Things are going to happen faster.  We have a workforce that’s engaged in that and want to continue doing what they do for the communities.”

Thomas C. Zambito covers energy, transportation and economic growth for the USA Today Network’s New York State team. He’s won dozens of state and national writing awards from the Associated Press, Investigative Reporters and Editors, the Deadline Club and others during a decades-long career that’s included stops at the New York Daily News, The Star-Ledger of Newark and The Record of Hackensack. He can be reached at tzambito@lohud.com.

Indian Point nuclear power plant: Arguments for and against reopening (lohud.com)