L.T.E. – Holtec Should Not Be Prejudged on Ability to Decommission Indian Point
To the Editor:
Last year, Entergy announced that it would transfer Indian Point after it shuts down, along with a $2 billion trust fund, to a company that specializes in decommissioning.
The company, Holtec International, has decades of experience handling high-level nuclear waste. Holtec formed a partnership with another company that has special expertise dismantling nuclear power plants. The combined technical and financial capabilities would enable this joint venture team to decommission Indian Point in only 12-15 years, about 40 years sooner than Entergy.
A safe and prompt decommissioning is enormously beneficial to the community. It will afford hundreds of workers to maintain good paying jobs as they complete decommissioning. Should this transfer be delayed or prevented, the site would likely sit dormant for 50 years (as law allows) until the trust fund grows to the level necessary for to begin decommissioning. Decommissioning of the plant is not Entergy’s specialty.
The sooner the plant can be decommissioned, the greater the potential for the site to be repurposed for industrial or other uses, resulting in new jobs and new tax revenue for the school district, village and town.
Rightfully so, the public and elected officials have questions about decommissioning. Most questions have been raised in a constructive manner.
Recently, however, anti-nuclear groups and some politicians, have opposed Holtec performing the decommissioning of Indian Point. In an ironic twist, some of those who fought furiously for 20 years or more to shut Indian Point are now leading the charge against the Indian Point decommissioning plan.
As concerned citizens, it is our obligation to ask questions and participate in the process so we can be assured that decommissioning will be done safely and securely At the same time, Holtec must be given an opportunity to share information and respond to questions. To do otherwise could be a decision we regret for the next 60 years.
Deb Milone
President
Hudson Valley Gateway Chamber of Commerce
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