Indian Point Closure Moves Forward

By Kathy Kahn

After nearly five decades of supplying power to electricity-hungry New York City, Indian Point is scheduled to close down in April 2021.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given conditional approval to the sale of Indian Point to Holtec International, based in Jupiter, Florida. One of its affiliates, Holtec Decommissioning International based in Camden, New Jersey. Only one of the plant’s two nuclear reactors remains active, and that one is scheduled to be shut down in April, 2021.

Holtec is currently in the process of decommissioning Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant in Camden, New Jersey, and Plymouth Power Station in Cape Cod, Mass.    The final decision to give the $2.1 billion contract to Holtec, which has been challenged by the NYS Attorney General Letitia James, will be at the discretion of its five commissioners—they are scheduled to vote on Tuesday, November 24.  The decommissioning, deconstruction, and remediation of the 240-acres the plant sits on is expected to take 12-15 years to complete.   The cost to the town of Buchanan and its school district, which relies heavily on the taxes generated by Indian Point for the past half-century,  has been a rallying point for officials who have no means to replace the lost income when the facility finally shuts down.