Why Indian Point nuclear plant won't close until 2041

New York’s decision to ban the discharge of radiological water into the Hudson River will add another eight years to the timetable for tearing down Indian Point, the nuclear power plant’s owners told federal regulators this month.

New Jersey-based Holtec says the bulk of the decommissioning of the 60-year-old Westchester County plant won’t be finished until 2041.

Earlier estimates pegged 2033 as the year when Holtec would finish dismantling and demolishing three shuttered reactors and clearing the 240-acre site of everything but spent nuclear fuel.

But in a Nov. 2 letter to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Holtec cites a law signed by Gov. Kathy Hochul in August that prevents the company from going ahead with plans to release a million gallons of radiological water used to cool nuclear fuel into the Hudson.

Holtec says the law “disrupted” the company’s 10- to 12-year teardown plan and will lead to layoffs of workers hired to cut apart reactors once the water is emptied.

“Without the ability to move the water from the cavities, it really complicates the schedule,” Holtec spokesman Patrick O’Brien said. “So we’re looking at what that impact is going to be, what we can and won’t be able to get done next year.”

The company is also weighing “legal remedies” to block the state’s efforts, which could also add years to the timetable.

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Layoffs coming at Indian Point

Holtec, which has touted its ability to knock years off labor-intensive nuclear plant teardowns, is being paid out of more than $2 billion in ratepayer-financed decommissioning trust funds. The company took over the plant from Louisiana-based Entergy in 2021, when the last of its two working reactors was turned off.

The announcement is not a total surprise.

In April, with environmental groups attacking the company’s discharge plans, Holtec vice president Richard Burroni told the USA Today Network some of the 400 unionized workers at the site would be laid off if the demolition stalled.

But with this month's announcement, the teardown timetable has become hostage to any negotiations between the state and Holtec.

And those who wanted to see the site — which sits 36 miles north of New York City — cleared of radiological waste so it can be redeveloped are not pleased.

Buchanan Mayor Theresa Knickerbocker said the village’s interests were largely ignored even as the state was claiming the new law would protect the economies of Hudson River communities who could see their home values impacted.

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“What about the economy of the village of Buchanan?,” Knickerbocker said. “Nobody’s asking about the village of Buchanan and nobody’s here to support us. None of our elected officials are supporting us.”

Indian Point was the village’s biggest taxpayer for decades, financing roughly half the village’s $7 million budget.

Knickerbocker fears the village will be on its own in the coming years after state and federal monies for communities that are home to shuttered power plants dries up.

And, Knickerbocker said, the state has failed to consider the potential health hazards from keeping the radiological water stored in tanks at Indian Point.

“The goal post has been changed again,” she said.

Hochul joined several lawmakers from the Hudson Valley, including State Sen. Pete Harckham, who said the river should not be a dumping ground for environmental waste.

“The Hudson River is one of New York’s landmark natural treasures, and it’s critical we stand together to protect it for generations to come,” Hochul said in August.

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Holtec says water is safe

Holtec said the radiological content of the water to be released into the Hudson in batches would be below acceptable levels set by the NRC.

The plant’s previous owners had released the water into the Hudson during the decades it had been in operation.

NRC regulations call for the decommissioning to be finished in 60 years so the current timetable would not violate federal standards.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Indian Point teardown is years behind, owners say. Here's why