The nuclear reactors at the Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County, New York, will stop operating by 2021, according to the plant’s owner Entergy Corporation. This confirms the New York Times’ report on Friday of the nuclear power plant’s impending shutdown.
The Indian Point Energy Center is home to three nuclear reactors, only two of which are active. It’s located on the edge of the Hudson river in Buchanan, New York — about an hour’s drive from Manhattan. Government officials are concerned that if a natural disaster or terrorist attack were to damage the plant, it could devastate nearby New York City.
“Record low gas prices” drove the plant out of business
“For years, my office has been fighting to address the serious risks posed by Indian Point to the surrounding communities and the environment,” New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman said in a statement emailed to The Verge. “If we can shut-down Indian Point under an agreement that enhances public safety and kick-starts investment into safer and more reliable renewable energy sources, that will be a major victory for the millions of New Yorkers who live in the region.”
The plant has three full-time inspectors on site, and a specialist inspector visits periodically to check the plant’s security and radiation safety, Neil Sheehan, a public affairs officer with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, tells The Verge. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is the federal agency that oversees nuclear power plant safety. According to its latest safety report for the third quarter of 2016, there were no safety concerns that would warrant increasing federal oversight of the plant, Sheehan says.