Temporary Closing of Indian Point Power Plant Is Considered

Millions of fish and larvae are killed as Indian Point sucks in 2.5 billion gallons of Hudson River water daily to cool its plant components. While the state and some environmentalists say Entergy should engineer a closed-cycle cooling system—which would rely less on the river—the power company says that idea is unfeasible and too costly.

Besides dying as they are sucked into the plant system, fish and other aquatic life are harmed when they come into contact with warmer water discharged back into the river by the plant, said Mr. Musegaas.

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Business groups and the operator of the Indian Point Energy Center have aligned against a proposal by New York state to close the nuclear power plant in spring and summer months to protect fish in the Hudson River, an idea drawing tentative support from some environmental advocates.

Indian Point produces about 25% of the electricity consumed in New York City and the lower Hudson Valley. The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which is proposing the shutdown, hasn’t specified how the loss of power produced by Indian Point would be made up, though it said it would do what it could to prevent service disruptions.

The DEC is advocating the shutdown as an alternative to proposed engineering changes to the facility that have largely been rejected by Entergy Corp. , the plant’s operator.

Millions of fish and larvae are killed as Indian Point sucks in 2.5 billion gallons of Hudson River water daily to cool its plant components. While the state and some environmentalists say Entergy should engineer a closed-cycle cooling system—which would rely less on the river—the power company says that idea is unfeasible and too costly.

The DEC has proposed to shut down the plant during the May 10-Aug. 10 period—for stints of 42, 62 or 92 days—to coincide with the presence of migrating or spawning fish in the Hudson. Two public hearings on the matter are scheduled for Tuesday in Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.

“This would not curtail operations this summer,” said Emily DeSantis, a spokeswoman for DEC said, in an email.

Entergy said the DEC’s latest public information on the proposal, released in May, failed to say how electricity would be replaced during the high-usage period of the summer or to assess the risk of blackouts or brownouts during that time. It said such a requirement would be unprecedented for a nuclear plant.

“They haven’t provided sufficient information to show that they performed the analysis that a reasonable regulator would provide to determine what they are proposing is real,” said Elise Zoli, an attorney for Entergy.

While nuclear plants such as Indian Point are licensed by the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the DEC has role in the facility’s operation because it issues State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permits. In a draft permit that now applies to Indian Point, DEC’s preference was for Entergy to use a closed-cycle cooling system.

The DEC would work with other key players in the state’s electrical market, including the state Department of Public Service, which regulates electric utilities, and the New York Independent System Operator, which is an independent nonprofit responsible for operation of the state’s bulk-electric system, Ms. DeSantis said.

They “will need time to plan and to ensure that if outages are required they do not disrupt supply or adversely impact systemwide capacity,” she said.

John Ravitz, executive vice president of the Business Council of Westchester, said shutting down Indian Point during the summer puts jobs at risk.

It “would be a catastrophic event for Westchester County,” Mr. Ravitz said in a conference call with reporters.

The call was organized by The New York Affordable Reliable Electricity Alliance, a coalition of business groups that counts Entergy as a member.

Phillip Musegaas, Hudson River program director for the nonprofit group Riverkeeper, said a summertime shutdown of the plant was “a viable option that needs to be considered.” He added, however, that the group would prefer a closed-cycle cooling system.

Besides dying as they are sucked into the plant system, fish and other aquatic life are harmed when they come into contact with warmer water discharged back into the river by the plant, said Mr. Musegaas.

Neil Sheehan, a spokesman with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said the commission hadn’t taken a stance on the DEC’s proposal.

The DEC said its proposal to shut down Indian Point for portions of the summer was in line with the practice at these plants when Con Edison owned the facilities from 1980 to 1998.

An Entergy spokeswoman said in an email that period was “the infancy of Indian Point’s operational history” and the shutdown proposal was “out of touch with current station operating profiles and expectations.”