Entergy to Close Nuclear Plant on Lake Ontario, Angering Cuomo

Uranium (Nuclear Minerals) / Nuclear Power - Economics, Design, & Industry

Date posted: 11/03/15

Patrick McGeehan reports that the Entergy Corporation announced that it had decided to close a 40-year-old nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Ontario, disappointing Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who said the company showed a callous disregard for more than 600 employees. The company said it was losing too much money operating the James A. FitzPatrick Nuclear Power Plant in Oswego County and had failed to persuade state officials to provide adequate help. They could not reach a mutual agreement on the situation. He said the plant suffered from being in a region of the state with abundant energy production from hydroelectric and natural gas, but relatively little demand. A fire that knocked out one of two reactors at the Indian Point plant on Saturday caused oil and fire-retardant foam to spill from it and into the Hudson River. An oily slick remained on Tuesday. In contrast, Entergy is battling Mr. Cuomo to continue running its Indian Point nuclear plant in Westchester County. The governor wants Indian Point shut down, saying it is too dangerous to have nuclear reactors in such a densely populated area. But Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat, said in a statement that the state would pursue every legal and regulatory avenue in an attempt to stop the Entergy actions and its callous disregard for their skilled and loyal work force. The company notified employees at the plant and state regulators about its plan. The regulators must now decide whether the plant, which can produce about 2 percent of the power generated in the state, is too important a source to allow to close, but Mr. Mohl said he did not foresee such a determination coming. He said the company had opted not to order any more fuel for the reactor, which would mean that it would cease operating late next year or in early 2017. At that point, he said, about half of the employees would lose their jobs. After that, employment at the plant would gradually decline through a 10-year decommissioning process.