nuclear-news

Entergy’s FitzPatrick Nuclear Reactor next to bite the dust?

Entergy’s FitzPatrick Reactor May Be Next Nuclear Casualty, Power, 09/14/2015 | Sonal Patel Entergy’s 850-MW James A. FitzPatrick nuclear plant located near Oswego, N.Y., may be the next reactor doomed to close on profitability woes. Entergy’s CEO Leo Denault told attendees at the Barclays CEO EnergyPower Conference on Sept. 10 that the company will need to decide by the end of this year whether to go forward with plans to refuel the FitzPatrick plant in Fall 2016.

The single-unit 1975-built reactor is one of six merchant nuclear plants that Entergy operates in the Northeast. Competition from low-cost gas and subsidized wind power has undercut power prices, making it difficult for FitzPatrick to make money (see POWER‘s latest story on how Exelon is dealing with similar issues)………Entergy in December 2014 shuttered its Vermont Yankee Nuclear Power Plant because it was unprofitable. The Louisiana-based company acknowledged that the FitzPatrick plant, which gained the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s green light to run until 2034, has been flailing financially for two years now. However, the company is determined to continue operating its two Indian Point units in New York despite strong opposition by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and environmental advocacy groups, Denault said, because its a “primary source of value earnings and … cash flow.” http://www.powermag.com/entergys-fitzpatrick-reactor-may-be-next-nuclear-casualty/

September 16, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, USA