Editorial: The nuclear choice

No one is pleased with the high cost of electricity in New York State, but why reject alternative energy solutions that pose none of the threats nuclear energy poses?

This isn’t the first time Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) has ignored lessons learned on Long Island in favor of responses she thought were the right solutions. None is as critical as her call for a nuclear plant to be located in upstate New York.

Governor, do you know why so many Suffolk County residents fought the creation of the Shoreham Nuclear Plant and why their concerns were finally heeded?

The Long Island Lighting Company started its push toward a plant in 1966 and started construction in 1973 that took 11 years. The Long Island Power Authority purchased the plant for a token $1 in 1992 and decommissioned the plant, a move for which Long Islanders are still paying a surcharge on their energy bills.

What finally won the day for those who fought nuclear energy was the realization that if there was a nuclear accident, there was no evacuation plan possible for more than a million residents, not to mention visitors.

Long Islanders worry about the two Millstone units still operating in Waterford, Conn. The concern is not without reason. The distance between here and Connecticut is only about 10 miles. A nuclear accident at either of the two units still operating could be a possible death sentence, not only for Connecticut residents, but for Suffolk County residents.

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission is supposed to evaluate the situation annually based on the chances of an earthquake being strong enough to pose a danger at the core of those units. Experts put the numbers as of 2020 in the areas of Unit 2 of the plant at 1 in 90,909. For Unit 3 they cited the chance of a strong earthquake were estimated at 1 in 66,667.

But look around at nuclear accidents. Three Mile Island, not far from Harrisburg, Penn., experienced a meltdown in 1979. The words Chernobyl and Fukushima have entered every language in the world as cautionary tales of relying on nuclear power. 

Elon Musk ordered the firing of hundreds of critical employees of the National Nuclear Security Administration. That the firing of these employees was rapidly reversed doesn’t provide any assurance that critical personnel will always be on the job.

Governor, please consider alternative energy to nuclear dangers.