As a college professor I would have expected Leonard Rodberg plea for nuclear power to include all of the facts that people n9¹eed to know to make informed decisions. Judging from what he wrote, I am left wondering if he actually read the document ⁸he is criticizing, the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act.
This piece of legislation is not a law. It is a scoping plan draft that seeks public input and suggestions on how to integrate renewable energy into every sector of the State’s economy. The Sierra Club, Lower Hudson, has real information and dates for public meetings on it’s website. Take a look and see for yourself.
The last reactor at Indiana Point closed April 30, 2021. No one even noticed. No lights flickering, no subway delays – nothing – in either Westchester or the NYC grid. Has the use of fossil fuel increased? Perhaps a bit but this is temporary as renewables, that do not produce high level radioactive waste, come into competition and undersell gas.
What else was left out? Well, the “new” reactors so fondly mentioned have yet to be built. NuScale submitted one application to the NRC and it was returned for additional information. Not off to a good start you might say.
And exactly how long does it take to deploy reactors that have not been sited or constructed yet? How many do we need to make a dent in producing carbon free electricity? How do we pay for them? All questions swept under the rug in this article unfortunately.
Most importantly how many years do we have to hold down the temperature on a rapidly overheating planet?
We must prioritize fast and cheap production of carbon free electricity. That means renewables coupled with efficiency, demand response and conservation. Nuclear just does not qualify on any of these accounts.
Marilyn Elie
Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition
www.ipsecinfo.org
914 954 6739
7 John Dorsey Dr, Cortlandt, NY 10567
