Friends of the Earth statement on announced plan to close Indian Point

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today Governor Cuomo announced that the State of New York has reached an agreement to close the Indian Point nuclear reactors in 2020/21. Along with other state and national environmental organizations,  including New York-based  Riverkeeper which joined the agreement, Friends of the Earth has called for the closure of the Indian Point reactors on safety grounds—including filing legal challenges in 2016 to the continued operation of Indian Point on the basis of damaged bolts in the reactors which threaten operations of the reactors’ primary cooling systems.

Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica issued the following response:

We congratulate Governor Cuomo, the State Attorney General, Riverkeeper and Entergy on reaching this agreement to close the aging, controversial nuclear reactors at Indian Point which pose a direct, awesome risk to millions of people in the New York City area and the adjacent states of New Jersey and Connecticut.

As an organization that has raised safety concerns about these outdated nuclear reactors, Friends of the Earth applauds the decision to close them and intends to monitor the safety and reliability of the plant until it closes in 2020/2021.

As one of the organizations that helped to negotiate the historic closure of the Diablo Canyon nuclear reactors in California with a renewable energy/greenhouse gas-free replacement portfolio, we urge Governor Cuomo to do the same in New York.

Governor Cuomo’s action is yet another dramatic step in the march to shut all nuclear power plants and replace them with safer, cleaner, cheaper and greenhouse gas-free renewable energy.

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Expert contact: Damon Moglen, (202) 222-0708, [email protected]
Communications contact: Kate Colwell, (202) 222-0744, [email protected]