CORTLANDT MANOR, N.Y. — July 25, 2014 — New York's latest proposal to save Hudson River fish from being sucked into the Indian Point nuclear plant calls for shutting down one of the region's largest power producers for up to three months a year — during air-conditioner season.
The state Department of Environmental Conservation says it offered the summer shutdown as an alternative because plant owner Entergy Nuclear has balked at the idea of building cooling towers. A final decision could be two years away.
Entergy and supporters of the plant say a seasonal closing at Indian Point would be ludicrous, threatening the reliability of the electrical grid, dampening economic development and increasing air pollution.
"I thought it was a joke, somebody trying to be funny," said Westchester County Legislator John Testa, whose district includes the plant in Buchanan, 35 miles north of Manhattan.
Testa spoke during a hearing this week — on a hot day, in a comfortably air-conditioned room — to the administrative judges who will make a recommendation to the DEC commissioner.
At issue are the permits Entergy needs to use Hudson River water — as much as 2.5 billion gallons a day — to make steam and cool the reactors. The company is hoping to win new 20-year federal licenses for the two units and could smooth the way with state permits.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo opposes the new licenses, saying it's unsafe to have a nuclear plant in the densely populated New York City suburbs. About 17 million people live within 50 miles of the plant.
Anxiety about Indian Point climbed after the 9/11 attacks, when one of the hijacked planes flew over the plant on its way to the World Trade Center, and again after the 2011 nuclear disaster in Japan following an earthquake and tsunami.
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