Archive for September 19th, 2012

Credit: Nuclear Regulatory Commission

The Indian Point Energy Center (nuclear power plant), located in Buchanan, N.Y., just north of New York City, has long been a lightning rod of attention.

The current governor of New York, Andrew Cuomo, has wanted to close it for a long time. When Cuomo ran for governor back in 2001, he talked about closing Indian Point. He lost that election but in 2010 won and took over the top state job. Almost immediately, he made closing the two nuclear reactors at Indian Point a high priority, in his speeches and media interviews. (Indian Point has two active reactors, with one up for relicensing in 2013 and the other in 2015.)

Cuomo’s major reasoning for wanting to close the plant is his fear of a nuclear spill disaster like the one that occurred in Fukushima, Japan, last year. But the New York governor also feels that Indian Point is a relic — a plant that doesn’t need to exist anymore — and that the state can find a way to replace the energy production that Indian Point currently provides. Read the rest of this entry »