For Immediate
Release:
Contact:
Kyle Rabin - Environmental Advocates: 518-462-5526 ext.
240
NEW NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS PROPOSED
BY COMPANIES BUYING NEW YORK NUKES
More than two decades after
the Three Mile Island nuclear reactor accident, five utility companies are
working to re-energize the nuclear power industry. Construction of as many as
five new plants is planned for undisclosed sites in the United States. Formal
applications are expected at the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission in the
next few weeks.
Last September, the Washington, D.C. – based Nuclear Energy Institute launched the “Task Force on New Nuclear Deployment.” The task force is made up of representatives from Dominion Resources Inc. of Virginia, Entergy Corporation of New Orleans, Exelon Corporation of Chicago, Constellation Energy Group of Maryland, and the Southern Company of Georgia.
Subsidiaries of Constellation Energy Group and Entergy Corporation are seeking ownership of five of New York’s six nuclear power plants: Nine Mile Point 1 and 2; Indian Point 2 and 3; and J.A. Fitzpatrick. “It is not clear whether or not these companies have considered building new nuclear power plants on existing sites,” said Kyle Rabin, Nuclear Energy Policy Project Director for Environmental Advocates. “Nuclear power must be phased out in New York State and elsewhere in the nation. The environmental community will block any attempts to build new nukes.”
The nuclear industry’s rhetoric is familiar: inherently safe, too cheap to meter, and no environmental impact. “Nothing could be further from the truth,” said Rabin. “Even without factoring in unknown future costs for radioactive waste management, health impacts, and reactor accidents, some forms of renewable energy, conservation, and efficiency are usually cheaper and always safer and cleaner. Today’s reactor industry is a runaway train, headed for a predictable end.”
“By promoting the sale of nuclear power plants, the New York State Public Service Commission is playing into the revival of New York’s nuclear power industry and may be paving the way for the next generation of nuclear power plants,” said Rabin. The Public Service Commission is currently reviewing the sale of the two Nine Mile Point reactor units and the Indian Point 2 reactor to limited liability subsidiaries.
“The fact that policymakers are even entertaining
the notion that nuclear power has a future and new nuclear plants should be
built in this nation, is troubling,” said Rabin. “Nuclear power plants have cost New York ratepayers billions and
billions of dollars. When you find that
you have dug yourself into a hole, the first thing to do is stop digging. Unfortunately, it appears, that state and
federal policymakers continue to support atomic power.”
In response to the new interest, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission recently
stated that it is forming a “future licensing project organization” to prepare
and manage possible applications to permit construction of new nuclear
reactors.
No commercial nuclear power
plants have been built in the United States in 25 years. Though nuclear power
supplies around 20 percent of the nation's electricity needs, it is only now,
with a new Republican White House and under the guise of an “energy crisis,”
that the industry has seriously explored building new plants.
“The Bush Administration’s support for nuclear power is extremely disturbing especially in light of the growing outrage from the environmental and clean energy community. The Bush Administration must bag their plan to promote a new generation of nuclear power plants,” said Rabin.
“Building a new nuclear power reactor anywhere in the United States would take a minimum of five years. Even with a site approved tomorrow, and zero public opposition, the physical act of getting a new reactor on line could take up to a decade,” said Rabin.
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