Indian Point’s 100% Replacement Energy in Place Now – to Power the Bronx and All of New York City

 [The following opinion article is a rebuttal to one posted by Frank Fraley that posted on February 4, 2016 in the Norwood News. ]

(Op-Ed) Indian Point’s 100% Replacement Energy in Place Now – to Power the Bronx and All of New York City

By CATHERINE SKOPIC

We applaud Governor Andrew Cuomo’s support for the closure of the Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant. As he has clearly stated there is no evacuation plan and it is too close to New York City. No need to worry. New York City does not need Indian Point to keep our lights on.

New York State energy regulators have already evaluated any potential reliability issues that could occur when Indian Point is closed and created a plan to ensure they are addressed: the Indian Point Replacement Contingency Plan is already being implemented by Con Edison and the New York Power Authority.*(Nuclear Information and Resource Service http://www.nirs.org)

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Indian Point shutdown raises new safety concerns

[Comments on this article by Tim Judson, Exec. Director of NIRS: “This is the best article on the IP2 event so far. Two points are worth correcting: this is the sixth incident at Indian Point this year, not the second. There have been four other equipment failures at IP3, resulting in shutdowns. Also, Entergy has only owned IP since 2001. The prior incidents mentioned in the article occurred when ConEd owned IP1&2 and the NY Power Authority owned IP3.]”

December 10, 2015 | Filed under: News | Posted by: The Villager

The Indian Point nuclear plant is less than 40 miles from New York City.

BY PAUL DERIENZO  |  Another troubling mishap at the Indian Point nuclear power plant last Saturday prompted a shutdown, or “trip,” of one of the two reactor units and the dispatch of inspectors from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Office made the announcement that the reactor was “forced to shut down,” but New Orleans-based Entergy, which owns the plant, said there was no release of radiation or chemicals from the incident. The company said magnets holding control rods failed when power was lost, allowing the rods to sink into the reactor vessel, as designed, which shut down the nuclear reaction. Control rods are a feature of nuclear reactors that allow the nuclear reaction to be adjusted or shut down.

How much electricity does Indian Point provide to our grid?

[Thanks to Marilyn Elie of The Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition (IPSEC) for this information.]

This has been a contentious question, aided and abetted by faulty investigative journalism, and by lazy reporters who prefer to Google the question and take a figure from the NYT rather than do their own work.

1.  IP does not provide 2,000 MW of electricity to NYC/WC.
2. IP does not provide 25% of the electricity used in NYC/WC — despite a Sunday story a couple of years ago that said one out of four light bulbs in the  area was powered by IP.

IP provides 560 MW to the area, and sells the rest wherever it can — frequently through the Independent System Operator (ISO) New England, especially in the winter when New England gas is converted to heating usage.