Decommissioning

Although it is imperative that we shut down nuclear plants, they remain dangerous, and expensive even when closed. Radioactive inventories remain present on the site and decommissioning costs have been skyrocketing, presenting the real danger that utilities will not be able to afford to properly shut down and clean up non-operating reactor sites.

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Thursday
Jul012021

HOLTEC'S HIGH RISKS: Dangerous screw-ups and schemes

Tee shirt design by Noel Marquez, Alliance for Environmental Strategies (AFES)Holtec's dangerous stumbles, at decommissioning (including knocking out power to 30,000 Jersey Shore residents!) and highly radioactive waste storage, continue at Oyster Creek, New Jersey. Its suspect containers are also used at Vermont Yankee and Indian Point, New York. Perhaps sooner than later, they'll also be used for even higher risk transportation. This is a theme of the most recent interview by Margaret Harrington, of our radioactive waste specialist, Kevin Kamps, on her program "Nuclear Free Future," on Channel 17/Town Meeting TV in reactor-free Vermont. Watch the 43-minute program. Holtec containers, of dubious structural integrity, could roll down railways, roadways, and waterways, beginning in a couple years, if NRC rubberstamps its consolidated interim storage facility license this autumn!

Wednesday
May262021

Beyond Nuclear letter requesting Congressional oversight/hearings on NRC handling of decommissioning and high-level radioactive waste at Indian Point, NY and beyond

See the letter here. In addition to Beyond Nuclear, it was signed by Robert Alpern, Esq., of Brooklyn, NY; Steve Stanne, Board President, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater, Beacon, NY; and Ian Zabarte, Principal Man of the Western Bands of the Shoshone Nation of Indians in Las Vegas, NV.

The letter was addressed to the following Members of Congress: U.S. Senators Chuck Schumer (D-NY, Senate Majority Leader), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Ed Markey (D-MA, Chair of the nuclear power oversight subcommittee), Bernie Sanders (D-VT, Chair of the Budget Committee), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI, Member of the Environment and Public Works Committee), and Gary Peters (D-MI, Chair of the Homeland Security Committee); as well as U.S. Representatives Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Mondaire Jones (D-NY, in whose district Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant is located), Carolyn Maloney (D-NY, Chair of the Government Oversight and Reform Committee), and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-NY).

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, and Interior Secretary Deb Haaland were cc'd.

There were numerous attachments to the letter:

(1.) April 27, 2021 letter to U.S. Sen. Schumer (D-NY), et al.;

(2.) Letter to U.S. Rep. Mondaire Jones (D-NY); 

(3.) Jan. 12, 2021 letter to Governor Andrew Cuomo (D-NY);

(4.) April 29, 2021 Clearwater comments to the NY PSC, re: Joint Proposal agreement between the State of New York, Entergy, Holtec, Riverkeeper, et al.

(5.) April 27, 2021 Fortune Magazine article;

(6.) March 30, 2021 Background Information for the EESI Congressional Briefing "TOWARDS AN EVIDENCE-BASED NUCLEAR ENERGY POLICY: Gaps in Research, Regulation, Policy, and Practice in the U.S. Nuclear Industry, and What Policymakers Can Do to Bridge Them";

(7.) Dec. 7, 2020 Clearwater backgrounder;

(8.) Dec. 7, 2020 Beyond Nuclear backgrounder, "DECOMMISSIONING TRUST FUNDS: What States Can Do to Stop Waste, Fraud, and Abuse, and Protect Their Citizens";

(9.) Dec. 7, 2020 Beyond Nuclear fact sheet, "NUCLEAR PLANT DECOMMISSIONING: A New Crisis and New Opportunity for States".

Monday
May102021

Palisades Power Plant employees prepare for last year on the job

The Palisades atomic reactor in Covert Township, Van Buren County, MI, four miles south of South Haven, on the Lake Michigan shoreline.As reported by the South Haven Tribune in southwest Michigan.

Beyond Nuclear is quoted.

Although not mentioned in the article, the local grassroots organization, Michigan Safe Energy Future, is also intervening against the Entergy-to-Holtec license transfer.

Friday
Apr302021

INDIAN POINT 3 -- Shut down for good!

Indian Point nuclear power plant on th eHudson River just north of New York City, NRC file photoThe Indian Point (IP) Unit 3 atomic reactor on the Hudson River near New York City (photo, left) will permanently close by April 30! The good news is that once the irradiated nuclear fuel is removed, a reactor core meltdown is no longer possible. Also, no more radioactive waste will be generated. But plenty of radioactive waste already exists, and the site is severely radioactively contaminated.
Shut Down Indian Point Now has organized an online event on Friday, April 30, at 7:30pm Eastern, to mark this very hard won victory. Beyond Nuclear joined with Clearwater to call for congressional hearings into Holtec's takeover, from Entergy, of the IP site, and NRC's dangerous dereliction of duty vis-a-vis decommissioning.

READ MORE

Thursday
Apr292021

Indian Point Shuts Down Tomorrow: Here's What You Need to Know

Alert from Beyond Indian Point:


On April 30, the last reactor at the Indian Point nuclear plant will shut down for good. This closure was hard won after decades of activism by dozens of organizations* and thousands of individuals. Indian Point needs to close because it poses a threat to the safety, health, and environment of downstate New York.

Contrary to the fearmongering and misinformation spread by the nuclear and gas industries, this closure doesn’t mean that any lights will go out, or that we will need to build new gas plants to replace Indian Point.

Instead, between Jan 2017 and the end of 2019, NYS state deployed 6,550 GWhs of energy efficiency & renewables - nearly enough to replace Indian Point 2, which closed in 2020. Fossil fuel generation in 2020 was 10% lower than in 2016 before the closure agreement was signed.

Now, we are on track to replace Indian Point more than two times over with efficiency and renewables by 202 


After Indian Point shuts down for good on Friday, we will continue to work with our allies across New York to continue the process of moving New York to a 100% renewable energy system.

 Image source: PSE research brief


Upcoming Forums on the Closure of Indian Point:

 

Riverkeeper Forum: Indian Point Powers Down: A Historic Day for the Hudson
Friday, April 30, 6:00pm-7:30pm
RSVP here | Facebook Event

Join Riverkeeper for an online forum on the decades-long fight to close Indian Point, and the future issues regarding safe decommissioning, a just transition for affected workers and communities, environmental justice, and a clean, safe energy future for New York.

Speakers will include Rep. Mondaire Jones, Riverkeeper, and many activists and educators. There will also be a screening of the short film "The Long Shadow of Indian Point."

Shut Down Indian Point Now Forum: Marking Indian Point’s Closing - One Down, Four to Go
Friday, April 30, 7:30pm-8:00pm
RSVP here | More Info

Join Shut Down Indian Point Now to take a moment to reflect on the closure of Indian Point. This event is dedicated to Gary Shaw and the thousands of activists who participated along the way to help get us here.

Sharing their part of the story will be Marilyn Elie who protested IP before it was built; Leona Morgan (Diné) of Nuclear Issues Study Group; Mari Inoue, Esq. from the Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free World; Tim Judson of Nuclear Information Resource Service; and many more.

 

Learn More:

AGREE Twitter thread dispelling myths about the Indian Point shutdown (please retweet!)

This NRDC blog outlines why Indian Point was shut down, and how we are replacing it with renewable energy

Indian Point Closes for Good ... Three Distinct Voices For and Against Green Radio Hour with Jon Bowermaster, including interviews with Paul Gallay, President of Riverkeeper, and Courtney Williams, activist and cancer researcher who is raising a family in the shadow of Indian Point 

Beyond Indian Point Online Forums on the Closure of Indian Point and the Transition to 100% Renewables: 

Action Alert from our friends at Clearwater:

While closing the reactors at Indian Point will reduce operational hazards, the danger persists. Managing 2,000 tons of highly radioactive waste, dismantling the reactor and other infrastructure, and remediating the heavily contaminated site are also incredibly risky. There are three gas pipelines that run under or near Indian Point that should be shut off throughout the decommissioning process. On Thursday, April 29th, the Public Service Commission will be closing its period for public comments on the recently negotiated Joint Proposal regarding the transfer of Indian Point to Holtec for the decommissioning process. 

The proposal states that Holtec will take ownership of Indian Point in exchange for the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation taking a more direct role in the regulation of decommissioning and financial assurances to ensure there are sufficient funds in the Decommissioning Trust Fund to complete the process. Clearwater is committed to ensuring that the decommissioning will be as safe and transparent as possible. That is why we’re calling on the Public Service Commission to convene the Decommissioning Oversight Board (DOB). A robust DOB that reflects the legislation (A10236b/S8154b) that was proposed in Albany would ensure that all relevant state agencies, community members, emergency planners, representatives from local government, as well as from the environmental, scientific, and labor communities meet regularly to discuss relevant issues, have access to independent experts as needed, and ensure real time and effective public input.

Please ask for a DOB that reflects the legislation in your comments and please post them here by Thursday 4/29 at 5 PM!

 

* Here are just some of the groups that we know were
part of the fight to close Indian Point:
 
WESPAC Foundation, WE ACT for Environmental Justice, United for Safe Energy, United for Action, Trade Justice for Metro NY, Stop the Algonquin Pipeline Expansion (SAPE), Stony Point Convergence, Stony Point Center, Sierra Club, Shut Down Indian Point Now, Scenic Hudson, Sane Energy Project, Safe Energy Rights Group (SEnRG), Safe Energy Campaign, Riverkeeper, Physicians for Social Responsibility, Peace Action NYS and NYC, Pax Christi Metro NY,  NYPIRG, NYC Safe Energy Coalition, NYC Metro Raging Grannies, NYC Friends of Clearwater, NYC Environmental Law & Justice Project, NY Metro Progressives, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, Natural Resource Defence Council (NRDC), Nuclear Information Resource Service (NIRS), Manhattan Project for a Nuclear-Free Future, Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC), Interfaith Moral Action on Climate, Helen Caldicott Foundation, Greenpeace, Green Education and Legal Fund, Granny Peace Brigade, Global 2000, Friends of the Earth, Frack Action, Food & Water Watch, Environment TV, Eco-Logic Radio, Code Pink NY, Code Pink Long Island, Clearwater, Citizen’s Environmental Coalition, Citizen Action NY, Citizens Awareness Network (CAN), Campaign for Peace and Democracy, Bronx Climate Justice North, Big Apple Coffee Party, Beyond Nuclear, Alliance for a Green Economy (AGREE), 350 NYC


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