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| Fig. 1: New York City skyline. (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
New York (see Fig. 1) presently obtains 1/3 of its electricity from nuclear power plants. [1] However, there has been controversy as IPEC announced that New York City's closest nuclear power plant will close in 4 years. The Indian Point Energy Center, which has three nuclear reactors, in Westchester, New York, will close down by 2021. [2]
There will be many negative effects of losing the power plant. Firstly, nuclear energy produces 1/3 of New York's electricity. [1] It is an extremely reliable and eco-friendly source of power that will be lost. Furthermore, it will weaken the US' national energy and environmental security and challenge the state's ability to provide reliable and resilient clean power to New York City. Furthermore, the closure will cause Buchanan, NY to lose half of its revenue ($3 million in annual revenue), and heightened taxes. [2]
Having a nuclear plant so close to one of the largest cities in the world poses security threats. The Indian Point Energy Center is 43 miles from Manhattan, only an hour's drive. Mr. Cuomo, NY's governor, states that he is pushing for legal action as the nuclear reactors are extremely dangerous. [3] If there were a natural disaster or a terrorist attack, it could devastate nearby New York City.
There are obvious positive and negative effects surrounding New York's current state of nuclear energy and the closure of the Indian Point Energy Center. We will see how New York is planning on replacing this main source of nuclear energy.
© Mimi El-Khazindar. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] N. Popovich, "How Does Your State Make Electricity?," New York Times, 24 Dec 18.
[2] S. Hodara, "Buchanan, N.Y.: A Waterfront Village Braces for Big Changes," New York Times, 27 Jun 18.
[3] V. Yee and P. McGeehan, "Indian Point Nuclear Power Plant Could Close by 2021," New York Times, 6 Jan 17.
