The possibility of expanding former nuclear power plant Indian Point and the notion of a reboot were the nuclei of debate among residents and state legislators at a Decommissioning Oversight Board (DOB) meeting Sept. 25.
A day prior, a federal judge ruled in favor of Holtec International, the company decommissioning Indian Point, that a state law designed to limit discharge of radioactive water into the Hudson River was preempted by federal law. The overturning of the state law left members of the Oversight board analyzing the decision and questioning what immediate plans Holtec had.
Patrick O’Brien, spokesperson for Holtec, said during the meeting that the company was not currently looking to discharge in the near term and would continue to work with all stakeholders on finding a path forward.
“We’re not rushing to do anything,” O’Brien said, acknowledging that there is an appeal period and an upcoming conference for the court decision in October. “There’s no rush right now to discharge.”
Holtec is considering the construction of small modular reactors and the release of currently contaminated property for a data center, which was supported by at least one resident during a public comment period.
What drew perhaps the most attention at the meeting were recently publicized quotes by Holtec International officials in which a reboot at the nuclear plant was said to be possible and could cost up to $10 billion. One resident even sarcastically thanked O’Brien for making comments that sparked higher turnout at the Sept. 26 meeting compared to the prior meeting.
“If I could have written the headline, I would have written it in a different way,” O’Brien said of the Politico article where his remarks were published. “Basically, what we’re trying to do is answer the question we’ve been asked the most in the last two years since we went to restart Palisades — and the question we always get asked — Is it possible to potentially rebuild Indian Point? Our goal is to answer the question once and for all publicly, and just say yes.”
Due to the terms of the shutdown agreement, any such proposal to reopen the plant would require support from local governmental entities, including the Village of Buchanan, the Town of Cortlandt, Westchester County, New York State, and Hendrick Hudson School District.
Richard Webster, attorney for environmental group Riverkeeper, which fought for the nuclear power plant’s shutdown in 2021, questioned the notion of restarting Indian Point. He commented that O’Brien previously was quoted saying, “You’re past the point of restarting those… short of putting a new reactor in the reactor vessel.”
“Let’s be honest, with time and money, anything can happen, Richard,” O’Brien said. “And what’s been involved in this process, and something that has been proven at Palisades, is it can be done if you go down that path.”
O’Brien said going down that path would require using existing equipment and adding reconstituted parts to rebuild the plant. The estimated $10 billion cost was based on work at the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan.
“The easiest example, I always say, is if you have a ’67 Chevy, very few of [the parts] are original,” O’Brien said. “You replace them along the way, and that’s what most nuke plants are. They’re vintage plants with new parts under the hood.”
Westchester County Legislator Emiljana Ulaj criticized O’Brien for not consulting the oversight board before “scheming” publicly with comments on the Politico article and said the county was passing legislation to “stop this conversation” and make Holtec focus on decommissioning.
Courtney Williams, Peekskill resident and founder of the Westchester Alliance for Sustainable Solutions, advocated supporting renewable energy over AI [artificial intelligence] data centers and fracking pipelines.
“They’re telling the press one thing and basically giving up responsibility for what they’re saying,” Williams said of Holtec. “This is greed. This is in order to get the headlines, get the tech bros enticed to juice their IPA… Take this message back to the governor: We don’t want any fracking pipelines, not here, not upstate. We don’t want any nukes.”
At this writing, the Office of New York State Attorney General Letitia James has not responded for comment on whether the court decision will be appealed.
