The governor ordered the New York Power Authority ’to develop and construct a zero-emission advanced nuclear power plant in Upstate New York.’
Gov. Kathy Hochul has directed New York’s power authority to “immediately begin evaluation of technologies, business models, and locations” to develop the state’s first nuclear power plant in 50 years and the country’s first in more than 15 years, kicking off an anticipated slate of similar nuclear energy initiatives nationwide.
“We must embrace an energy policy of abundance that centers on energy independence and supply chain security to ensure New York controls its energy future,” Hochul said in a June 23 announcement delivered at the Niagara Power Project near Lewiston, New York.
The governor ordered the New York Power Authority “to develop and construct a zero-emission advanced nuclear power plant in Upstate New York” to boost the state’s stressed electric grid with the renewable, zero-carbon power generation she called for in her 2025 State of the State address.
In that address, Hochul called on the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority to develop a Master Plan for Responsible Advanced Nuclear Development with an emphasis on emerging technologies, including small modular reactors.
The directive calls on the authority and the state’s Department of Public Service “to develop at least one new nuclear energy facility with a combined capacity of no less than 1 gigawatt of electricity, either alone or in partnership with private entities, to support the state’s electric grid and the people and businesses that rely on it.”
One gigawatt of electricity can power roughly 750,000 homes.
There are three operating nuclear power plants in New York, all in the western reaches of the state, near or on Lake Ontario. Two—James A. FitzPatrick and Nine Mile Point—are in Oswego County, and the R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant is in Wayne County.
The Oswego County reactors, including the two at Nine Mile Point, were the last to be built in New York, going online in 1975.
The Indian Point nuclear power plant on the Lower Hudson’s Tappan Zee in Buchanan was shut down in April 2021 and is undergoing decommissioning.
By John Haughey
