Reuse of Indian Point Site Decades Away after Closure
Decommissioning of the Indian Point nuclear power plants in the Village of Buchanan and any potential reuse of the 240-acre site is likely decades away after the planned shutdown in 2021.
Speaking before a meeting of the Cortlandt Community Unity Task Force at Cortlandt Town Hall Thursday evening, Mike Twomey, vice president of external affairs for Entergy, owners of Indian Point since 2000, revealed Entergy has 60 years to complete the decommissioning process after Unit 3 stops operating on April 30, 2021.
“Each decommissioning is unique. There is no one size fits all recipe that tells you what you should be done,” remarked Twomey, who emphasized Entergy were not “experts” in decommissioning and could wind up passing that responsibility on to another company as it did with its Vermont Yankee facility.
“There will be decommissioning on site for 20 years or as much as 50 years,” Twomey said. “The more expensive it is to do the decommissioning, the longer it will take. We’re not going to cut any corners on safety, but we’re not going to spend any extra money either.”
As of March 31, Entergy has set aside $1.78 billion in a decommissioning trust fund for units 1, 2 and 3. Unit 1 has been closed for years, while Unit 2 is scheduled to undergo its final refueling and maintenance outage next spring before it permanently shuts down by April 30, 2020. Unit 3 received its second-to-last refueling outage recently and returned to service on Thursday.
In early January, Governor Andrew Cuomo, Entergy and Riverkeeper stunned local officials when they announced Indian Point would close permanently in 2021 since it was no longer profitable enough for Entergy.
The announcement sent immediate financial shockwaves since Entergy is a major funding source, providing 33% of annual revenue to the Hendrick Hudson School District, 46% to the Village of Buchanan, 64% to the Verplanck Fire Department. 28% to the Hendrick Hudson Free Library, 2% to the Town of Cortlandt and 1% to Westchester County.
“We wish we would have known earlier, but we’re going forward,” said Cortlandt Supervisor Linda Puglisi, whose municipality receives approximately $800,000 annually from Entergy.
Puglisi noted there are still eight years remaining on a pilot tax agreement with Entergy. Twomey said Entergy was “certainly open” to negotiating another pilot, but stressed “the magnitude will be much different.”
As part of the settlement agreement with the state and Riverkeeper, Twomey emphasized Entergy had agreed to commit $15 million to local communities to help initially offset the loss in revenue, but Cortlandt Councilman Dr. Richard Becker took issue with that offer, calling $15 million “chump change for a community this size.”
“I don’t think the town is being treated well,” Becker remarked. “It’s like a divorce is taking place. We need more from Entergy. We need to be kept whole, not forever. There should be a 10-year transition period in lieu of the breaking of the pilot agreement. We’re being abandoned. I think Entergy has a much larger responsibility. Communities feel like we’re being shortchanged, literally.”
Twomey responded to Becker’s harsh remarks by maintaining Entergy was under no obligation to provide any funds and made a good gesture with its $15 million offer.
“I think we have been a good partner. I don’t think anyone should expect the company to provide additional revenue,” said Twomey, noting Entergy has invested $1.3 billion over the last 17 years. “I don’t think it’s realistic to expect a company to make a community whole for 10 years. The facility was going to shut down. It was sooner than most of us had hoped.”
Twomey said within a month or so of Indian Point going off line, the process of spent fuel rods being moved from a pool into dry cask storage on site will begin. That entire process is estimated to take between 10 and 12 years.
“Once the rods are removed you remove 99.9% of the radioactive material,” he said. “You just have rubble that has to be dealt with (after that).”
In the meantime, Entergy is still pursuing relicensing from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, with an answer not expected until 2018. Entergy has been seeking a new license since 2007 and has been allowed to continue functioning under an extended operation clause.
Buchanan Mayor Theresa Knickerbocker announced she was starting a group called Buchanan 2021 as a way to reach out to concerned residents. A special meeting is slated to be held in June.
“We’re still on a fact-finding mission. Once we get to a certain point we’ll be able to make some decisions going forward,” she said. “We have a lot of work ahead of us.”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, May 31, the first New York State Task Force meeting regarding Indian Point’s departure will be chaired by the Public Service Commission at Cortlandt Town Hall.
Rick has more than 40 years’ experience covering local news in Westchester and Putnam counties, running the gamut from politics and crime to sports and human interest. He has been an editor at Examiner Media since 2012. Read more from Rick’s editor-author bio here. Read Rick’s work here: https://www.theexaminernews.com/author/pezzullo_rick-writer/
