Deal Reached to Close Indian Point, One of America’s Most Dangerous Nuclear Power Plants

Interview with Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Oversight Project at the group Beyond Nuclear, conducted by Melinda Tuhus

The Indian Point nuclear power plant is located on the Hudson River less than 30 miles north of New York City, posing a threat to the city’s 8 million residents and to millions more who live in upstate New York and in western Connecticut. Indian Point provides one-quarter of the electricity consumed by New York City and Westchester County. Anti-nuclear activists have been trying to close the aging and accident-prone plant for decades, which many critics have dubbed one of the most dangerous nuclear power plants in America. In recent years, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has also campaigned for Indian Point’s closure.

Under a deal announced last week with Entergy, Indian Point’s owner, two of the three remaining operating reactors are now scheduled to close in 2020 and 2021. The company insists it’s closing the reactors solely because the cost of producing electricity has been undercut by cheaper fracked natural gas that fuels newer power plants. Entergy’s federal licenses were scheduled to expire in 2013 and 2015, but the company had been seeking 6-year extensions for the two reactors, instead of the normal 20-year extension.

Between The Lines’ Melinda Tuhus spoke with Paul Gunter, director of the Reactor Oversight Project at the group Beyond Nuclear, who discusses the great strides that have been made in production of renewable energy that will replace the power lost when Indian Point shuts down. He also explains why he disagrees with the position of climate change icon Dr. James Hansen, who supports nuclear power because it doesn’t directly produce greenhouse gases.

For more information about the work of Beyond Nuclear, visit their website at beyondnuclear.org.

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