Hochul’s nuclear plant announcement draws sharp criticism from nuclear energy opponents Source: riverheadlocal
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Hochul’s nuclear plant announcement draws sharp criticism from nuclear energy opponents
The Shoreham nuclear power plant built by the L.I. Lighting Company, one of several LILCO had planned to build along Long Island’s north shore. RiverheadLOCAL/Denise Civiletti (March 2022 file photo)
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Jun 29, 2025, 7:39 am
Governor Kathy Hochul continued her push for nuclear power in New York State by announcing on June 21 that she has “directed the New York Power Authority” to “develop a new nuclear facility” to be built “upstate” and, as the heading of her announcement said, be the “First New Nuclear Power Construction in New York State in a Generation.”
Her move was criticized by safe-energy and climate activists and participants in the decades-long battle against nuclear power on Long Island. For years, the Long Island Lighting Company sought to build seven to eleven nuclear power plants. The Shoreham plant was the first constructed, but was stopped from going into operation, with grassroots action playing a pivotal role in blocking it.
A key claim by Hochul in her announcement was that nuclear power provides “zero-emission” energy in terms of emitting carbon that causes climate change. However, as emphasized in a statement by a coalition of organizations — including Don’t Waste NY and the Green Education and Legal Fund— this ignores the nuclear power life cycle.
“Despite the spin from the governor and industry, nuclear is far from ‘carbon free’ with significant carbon emissions during the construction of plants, the mining, processing and transportation of the fuel, and the storage of long-lived waste,” they said.
Also, Hochul stressed the new nuclear development would involve “advanced” nuclear plants. However, the Union of Concerned Scientists conducted research on the so-called “advanced” plants and in a 140-page report, authored by Edwin Lyman, a physicist and its director of nuclear power safety, found these plants “are no better—and in some respects significantly worse—than the light-water reactors in operation today.”
Hochul also was not considering renewable energy sources—primarily in the form of solar panels and wind turbines — now accounting for more than 80% of the world’s new electric generating capacity and up to 90% cheaper than nuclear power. The push by the nuclear industry and pro-nuclear government officials for a so-called “nuclear renaissance” is a last-ditch effort to stifle the growth of renewable energy, according to Harvey Wasserman, co-author of “Solartopia” and “Killing Our Own: The Disaster of America’s Experience with Atomic Radiation.”
Hochul “is making a major push to not only build new nuclear plants in New York State but to make N.Y. the center of a nuclear revival in the U.S.,” Mark Dunlea, chair of the Green Education and Legal Fund, said in May. The author of “Putting Out the Planetary Fire: An Introduction to Climate Change and Advocacy,” Dunlea said Hochul “buys the argument that nuclear is carbon-free, avoiding looking at the life cycle of nuclear and its carbon footprint.” Her June 21 announcement is “the latest mistake in Governor Hochul’s increasing mishandling of the climate crisis, Dunlea said. “She is paying far more attention to corporate sales pitches and campaign donations than to the facts about the accelerating climate crisis.”
Ellen Weininger, director of educational outreach at Port Washington-based Grassroots Environmental Education, said: “We call on Governor Hochul to immediately halt her reckless decision to build new nuclear facilities. Constructing new nuclear facilities squanders precious time and New Yorkers’ hard-earned money on the dirtiest, most expensive and climate-accelerating type of energy. In addition to its life cycle’s significant greenhouse gas footprint, these facilities produce endless amounts of dangerous, highly radioactive waste, create harmful exposures to known carcinogens, teratogens and mutagens and generate large quantities of Carbon-14 and Krypton-85, and other potent radioactive greenhouse gases. New Yorkers should not be asked to foot the enormous bill for these nuclear blunders. We urgently need to transition to safe, affordable, proven renewable energy solutions that work now and will enable New York to meet its pressing climate goals without jeopardizing our health and safety.”
Alex Beauchamp, Northern Region director at the national group Food & Water Watch, said: “Governor Hochul’s nuclear gamble is a reckless distraction from the clean, affordable energy New Yorkers actually need. Nuclear power is dirty, dangerous, and wildly expensive—and this project will leave New Yorkers footing the bill while delaying urgently needed progress on renewables. Hochul needs to stop chasing false solutions and start delivering real climate action.”
“Even with a price tag too large, a waste problem too radioactive, and a timeline too slow, Governor Hochul has still chosen nuclear power over investing in real climate solutions like wind, solar, and geothermal. A new nuclear plant is simply not in the interests of New Yorkers,” said Bob Cohen, Policy and Research director of Citizen Action of New York.
Jeff Kluewer, who as a member of the Shoreham Opponents Coalition challenged LILCO’s nuclear plans said Hochul’s move “is a serious misdirection of effort and capital to address climate change and the electric supply. This directive calls for creating something that does not now exist, implying a timeline that must be measured in decades at costs measured in the many billions of dollars. Such investment would be much better directed at decentralized residential solar and end-use efficiencies as well as wind and solar farms and their accompanying storage technologies. Such investments can address electric energy supply far more quickly, at lower cost while creating and sustaining far more jobs. Nuclear power is an extremely complicated and costly means of boiling water,” said Kluewer, long a professor at Suffolk County Community College.
Marjorie Harrison who chaired the Long Island Public Power Project said: “It’s disappointing when responsible leaders lead us into repeating the mistakes of the past. Shoreham was a mistake, economically and environmentally. Unproved design and construction costs and uranium mining and radioactive waste disposal, among other problems, remain as troubling and unresolved today as they were decades ago. Thank goodness we closed Shoreham through a massive public movement. Kudos to all who joined in to the stop Shoreham, stop LILCO campaign…
“Instead of problematic nuclear power, let’s make it a priority to develop good union jobs by building out our safe-energy economy. With Governor Hochul’s recent nuclear-plant announcement, we can’t sit back and let high-cost, non-renewable energy mistakes happen all over again. Governor, there is still time to ‘say no’ to nuclear plants in New York State.”
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Karl is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY at Old Westbury and the author of eight books. Karl lives in Sag Harbor. Email Karl
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