Groups Blast Governor Hochul for Reckless & Fiscally Irresponsible Decision to Build “Advanced” Nuclear Power Reactor in Upstate NY
Cite Multiple Government Sources Stating Hochul Ignored NYSERDA Financial Assessment 2024 Report Recommending NYS Not Pursue Nuclear Technologies Due to Astronomical Costs to Ratepayers & Taxpayers Enormous Liability Risks; Call on Governor Hochul to: Immediately Release “Secret” NYSERDA Report; Halt Misguided Pursuit of Nuclear; Implement the Law with Power Authority Focused on New Solar and Wind
(Albany) A coalition of organizations blasted Governor Kathy Hochul today for her reckless and fiscally irresponsible announcement directing the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to build a nuclear reactor. The groups stated that multiple government sources have revealed that the Governor deliberately ignored a NYS Energy Research & Development Authority (NYSERDA) Financial Assessment 2024 Report that recommended NYS not pursue nuclear power due to astronomical costs to ratepayers and taxpayers, and enormous liability risks.
Despite the spin from the Governor and industry, nuclear is far from carbon free, with carbon emissions from the construction of the plants, the mining, processing and transportation of the fuel, and the storage of its waste for hundreds of thousands of years.
The groups called on Governor Hochul, NYSERDA President Doreen Harris and NYS State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli to immediately release the “secret” NYSERDA report, halt the dangerous pursuit of nuclear power and require NYPA to implement the Build Back Public Renewables law focusing on new solar and wind.
The key problems with nuclear technologies stated Anne Rabe of Don’t Waste New York are as follows::
- Dependent on Excessive Government Welfare: Ratepayers provided $28 billion in subsidies, financing & bail-outs for existing 7 reactors. Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) also require government welfare as financiers are unwilling to invest due to unproven SMR technology, cost overruns, risks and highly unpredictable cash flow and they “…largely only become bankable with governments de-risking the investment, thereby exposing taxpayers or ratepayers to the project risks.” (Copenhagen School of Energy Infrastructure report)
- Dangerous: The UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) found nuclear reactor meltdowns are still a serious barrier and risk. An estimated 1.5 % of all nuclear reactors had a partial or significant core meltdown.
- Too Expensive & Slow: “The NYS Climate Action Council decided against any major role for new nuclear power plants in the energy future for NYS. Nuclear power is simply too expensive and too slow to deploy, and the state’s needs are far better met by renewable energy and battery storage, stated Dr. Robert Howarth, Cornell University Scientist and CAC Member. Many groups such as the NY Renews Coalition, Sierra Club, Public Citizen, Food and Water Watch, NYPIRG, and Greenpeace have opposed nuclear as a false climate solution.
- SMRs Generate up to 30 Times More Dangerous Radioactive Waste per the National Academy of Sciences. Waste is highly radioactive for tens of millions of years and lack of national repository means every reactor site is a long-term waste facility. Curently, it costs $35 million a year to store waste at the 7 reactor sites.
A national expert, David Schissel, provided the following information to state legislators at a briefing in January of this year.
“Nuclear is an expensive, false climate solution that has major environmental problems including the processing and disposal of its uranium fuel,” ”said Mark Dunlea, chair of the Green Education and Legal Fund. “This is the latest mistake in Governor Hochul’s increasing mishandling of the climate crisis. She is paying far more attention to corporate sales pitches and campaign donations than to the facts about the accelerating climate crisis.” Dunlea was the national coordinator of the Campaign for Safe Energy which worked in 1980 to get the Democratic and Republican presidential candidates to reject nuclear after the Three Mile Island accident and instead to commit to clean, renewable energy such as solar and wind.
“Nuclear energy is a bad investment,” stated Deborah Porder, Indivisible Scarsdale. “It is the most expensive form of energy and we all subsidize it. Every community that has a reactor becomes a permanent nuclear waste dump. We should be investing in clean energy – like wind, geothermal, hydropower, solar and storage – which are cheaper and can be built faster