Indian Point owner floats restart of shuttered nuclear reactors

 By Marie J. French

 

09/10/2025

 

 

ALBANY, New York — Five years after Indian Point started shutting down, the company charged with dismantling the nuclear plant says it could still be restarted — at an estimated cost of $10 billion.

 

“I’m getting so many people asking me from New York if this is possible,” said Holtec International President Kelly Trice. “The answer is yes.”

Reviving the 2,000 megawatt nuclear plant would require overcoming deep-seated opposition to nuclear power in close proximity to New York City. Political — and financial — support would also be needed from the administrations of Gov. Kathy Hochul and President Donald Trump, Trice said.

 

Holtec’s feeler on repowering the plant — reported exclusively by POLITICO — comes amid increasing openness to nuclear power in New York, especially from Hochul. Nuclear is also one of few areas of alignment on energy policy between the governor and the White House.

 

With the Trump administration blocking offshore wind and slashing support for renewables, the New York City region has limited options for new energy sources amid growing affordability concerns and demand for power.

 

“It should never have been shut down in the first place,” said Frank Morales, president of the Utility Workers Union of America Local 1-2, which represented workers at Indian Point. “Offshore wind has been a dead subject since Trump has been in office, and we have to start considering other ways to produce that.”

 

Former Gov. Andrew Cuomo struck a 2017 deal with Indian Point’s owner to shut the plant over safety and environmental concerns. Cuomo is running for mayor in New York City as an independent after losing the primary and affordability has been a major issue in the race.

 

The shutdown of Indian Point in 2021 led to increased emissions as gas plants ramped up to replace the lost power and renewables have lagged behind. Consumers were also left more exposed to volatile gas price swings. The closure pushed electric bills up as much as $300 million more for electricity in 2022 alone, according to a conservative-leaning think tank.

 

A transmission line to bring 1,250 megawatts of Canadian hydropower to the city is set to be completed next year, addressing some reliability concerns. Gas prices have also dropped, eliminating potential savings from keeping the plant open.

 

Other shuttered nuclear plants in the U.S. are being revived to keep the lights on and data centers humming as demand for electricity ramps up.

 

Holtec is restarting the Palisades plant in Michigan with significant state and federal financial support. Constellation is bringing back Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania in a deal to supply power to Microsoft’s data centers. NextEra is also considering repowering a plant in Iowa.

 

Hochul has been focused on new nuclear in upstate New York, directing the state’s power authority to build at least 1 gigawatt. She has bemoaned the increased emissions after losing Indian Point, saying there should’ve been better planning.

 

“There have been no discussions or plans to re-open Indian Point,” said Hochul spokesperson Ken Lovett.

 

Cuomo and others raised safety concerns about the aging plant and its proximity to New York City for years before it closed. The plant was also struggling to compete with low-cost natural gas generators.

 

Republican lawmakers proposed setting up a commission to study reopening Indian Point this year. They’ve frequently criticized the closure of the plant and subsequent emissions increases, but most Democratic lawmakers are focused on dismantling the plant.

 

The state has an oversight role in the decommissioning process, with regular public meetings to get updates on progress. The work has sometimes spurred concerns, including when Holtec planned to discharge radioactive wastewater into the Hudson River.

 

Hochul ultimately signed legislation in 2023 blocking that step after environmentalists raised concerns, delaying the decommissioning process from 2035 to 2041. Holtec is suing in federal court to overturn that law. No decision has been issued.

 

Holtec officials previously indicated repowering Indian Point would be too challenging since some major components were already dismantled. The law limiting dumping in the Hudson River meant Holtec is storing the contaminated water on site, Trice said.

 

The internal components and the top of the reactor vessel have been removed, and Holtec would have to procure new parts and reinstall them, Trice said.

“The containment buildings are intact. The turbine buildings are intact. The electrical switch gear and components are all intact. So, it is conceivable,” he said.

Holtec has also floated the idea of siting a data center and small advanced nuclear reactors at the Indian Point site. Trice said they could still add additional reactors if the plant was repowered, assuming state support.

 

Holtec estimates a restart would take four years and employ thousands of workers. Indian Point was a major employer and taxpayer in the region, leading to local backlash when the shutdown deal was announced.

 

The company isn’t launching a full-throated advocacy effort for the idea of restarting Indian Point at the moment. Instead, Trice said they’re looking to have some meetings with Hochul’s team and, if the governor is supportive, get labor on board.

 

Morales said he’d like Hochul to consider the idea.

 

“It just makes sense,” the union leader said. “Invest the money, make it safer, make it what it should have been.”

 

Holtec would need the state to purchase or subsidize power from the plant and potentially provide grants, Trice said. They’d also look for legislative support to ensure the state wouldn’t reverse its decision and the plant could operate for at least 30 years.

 

A spokesperson for the White House declined to weigh in specifically on Indian Point, but the administration has been very supportive of nuclear energy. One official referred to it as “more American” than renewables recently.

 

“President Trump is prioritizing and investing in the development of the nuclear energy industry which produces a safe and reliable energy source to boost grid stability and address AI energy usage,” said spokesperson Taylor Rogers. “Nuclear energy is a critical component to restoring America’s energy dominance, protecting our national security, and powering the next generation of technologies.”

 

But Trump also has one of the leading voices who fought for closing Indian Point in his ear — Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And Kennedy even appeared with Cuomo to raise concerns about the plant when his then-brother-in-law ran for governor.

 

Many key New York Democratic lawmakers are skeptical of nuclear given the potential costs and unanswered questions about waste. Sen. Liz Krueger, a Manhattan Democrat and chair of the state Senate Finance Committee, has said shutting Indian Point was necessary because of its proximity to a fault line and the risks to the city’s residents.

 

Sen. Pete Harckham, a Democrat from Westchester County where the plant is located, said subsidies would come from ratepayers and it makes more sense to support renewables.

 

“They’ve already segmented and removed a lot of the reactor infrastructure. So all of that would need to be new, would need to be rebuilt,” he said. “And then you’re building new infrastructure with old infrastructure, and with a huge price tag to the public. I don’t know that that makes sense.”

 

Estimates of the cost of new nuclear power plants vary significantly, with uncertainty about the costs of both proven and more nascent designs. New large scale nuclear is about twice as expensive to build as solar, according to business consulting firm Lazard. [An absurd comparison]

 

The most recent new nuclear plant to come online in the U.S., Vogtle in Georgia, faced massive cost overruns. The final capital costs of the plant were more than $14,000 per kilowatt.

 

Cost estimates for the next large reactor using the same design as the Vogtle plant vary. One Massachusetts Institute of Technology analysis estimated the next two large reactors at a new site could cost $10,000 per kilowatt.

 

Holtec’s $10 billion estimate equates to about $4,800 per kilowatt. Trice said. Holtec estimates it would be ”cost competitive” with market rates for electricity, somewhere between $40 and $80 per megawatt hour. A long-term contract would be needed to provide revenue certainty and allow Holtec to finance the massive investment.

 

New York recently stopped providing information about the cost of renewables, but inked offshore wind deals last year with costs — including market revenue and subsidies — of about $150 per megawatt hour.

 

Any effort to restart Indian Point would face major opposition from anti-nuclear environmental groups.

 

Indian Point owner floats restart of shuttered nuclear reactors - POLITICO