BUCHANAN, N.Y., April 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Control room
operators at Entergy Corporation's (NYSE: ETR) Indian Point Energy
Center Unit 3 will shut down the nuclear reactor by Friday, April 30, for the final time, marking the
end of nearly 60 successful years of safe, virtually carbon-free
power generation at the facility.
Announced in 2017, the shutdown of both operating units at
Indian Point is pursuant to a settlement agreement with the
State of New York and was the
result of a number of factors, including sustained low current and
projected wholesale energy prices that reduced revenues. Indian
Point Unit 2 shut down as scheduled on April
30, 2020.
"Indian Point has been operated and maintained at the highest
levels of reliability, safety and security for many years, and Unit
3 has been online continuously since April
9, 2019 – setting a new world record for continuous days of
operation," said Chris Bakken,
Entergy's Chief Nuclear Officer. "Indian Point's enduring legacy
will be the thousands of men and women who operated the plant
safely, reliably, and securely, while helping to power New York City and the lower Hudson Valley for nearly 60 years. We owe those
who serve now, along with those who came before them, a debt of
gratitude."
Plant Breaks World Record for Continuous Days of
Operation
The shutdown completes a remarkable recent operating history for
the 1,041-megawatt Unit 3, which currently has generated
electricity continuously for 751 days since it was last refueled in
April 2019. The mark is a world
record for commercial light water nuclear power reactors. The
previous record for continuous days online was 739 and set in 2006
by Exelon's LaSalle Unit 1 station. There currently are more than
300 light water reactors operating in more than 20 countries.
Operational History
Entergy purchased Indian Point Unit 3 in 2000 and Indian Point
Unit 2, along with the permanently shut down Unit 1, in 2001.
Following Entergy's purchase from two separate owners, station
personnel were aligned under one owner and reliability was
enhanced. Gross combined generation at Unit 2 and Unit 3 prior to
Entergy's purchase of the two units averaged around 10 million
megawatt hours each year; in the 20 years following Entergy's
purchase, gross generation averaged around 17 million megawatt
hours each year. Indian Point was a workhorse for the southeastern
New York electrical grid,
generating approximately 25% of the power consumed annually in
New York City and the lower
Hudson Valley.
Unit 1 operated from 1962 to 1974. Unit 2 operated from 1974 to
2020. Unit 3 operated from 1976 to 2021.
Entergy Employees at Indian Point Energy Center
Following Entergy's shutdown announcement in January 2017, Entergy made several commitments to
its employees at Indian Point, including:
- No reduction in headcount at Indian Point Energy Center during
the "gap year," that is, the year between Unit 2's shutdown
(April 2020) and Unit 3's shutdown,
and no headcount reduction until after Unit 3 was permanently shut
down and defueled.
- Any employee who was willing to relocate would be provided a
job for which they were qualified.
- As part of the company sale agreement with Holtec
International, the new owner of the plant post-shutdown will hire
more than 300 current Entergy employees for Phase 1 of
decommissioning. Holtec agreed to honor existing collective
bargaining agreement contracts with union employees at Indian
Point.
Approximately 170 employees at Indian Point plan to relocate or
have already relocated to continue working with Entergy.
Decommissioning Indian Point
In April 2019, Entergy announced
the proposed post-shutdown sale of the subsidiaries that own Unit
1, Unit 2, and Unit 3 to a Holtec International subsidiary for
prompt decommissioning. Holtec and its team plan to initiate
decommissioning at Indian Point promptly following regulatory
approval and transaction close, and it expects to release portions
of the site for re-use by the mid-2030s, nearly 40 years sooner
than if Entergy continued to own the facility.
In November 2019, Entergy and
Holtec filed a petition with the New York Public Service Commission
concerning the proposed transfer of Indian Point and a license
transfer application with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
The NRC approved the license transfer in November 2020.
On April 14, 2021, subsidiaries of
Entergy and Holtec, several New York
State agencies, local governments and others, filed a Joint
Proposal with the PSC, which reflects a comprehensive settlement of
the issues raised in the proceeding concerning the proposed
post-shutdown transfer of Indian Point to subsidiaries of Holtec
for decommissioning. The parties to the Joint Proposal recommend
that the PSC adopt the proposal and approve the post-shutdown
transfer of Indian Point from Entergy to Holtec. Entergy and Holtec
have requested a decision on the Joint Proposal by the PSC in
May.
About Entergy Corporation
Entergy Corporation (NYSE: ETR) is an integrated energy company
engaged in electric power production, transmission, and retail
distribution operations. Entergy delivers electricity to 3 million
utility customers in Arkansas,
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas. Entergy owns and operates one of the
cleanest large-scale U.S. power generating fleets with
approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity,
including 8,000 megawatts of nuclear power. Headquartered in
New Orleans, Louisiana, Entergy
has annual revenues of $10 billion
and more than 13,000 employees. Learn more at entergy.com and
follow @Entergy on social media.
Entergy owns and operates five nuclear power units in its
regulated utility business, and is committed to the continued
operation of its nuclear fleet in those locations. Its nuclear
power plants in those markets are located in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi, and have more than 5,000
megawatts of clean, reliable, and economic electricity generating
capacity for customers in those regions.
Entergy also owns Palisades Power Plant, a nuclear power
generating facility in Michigan,
which is scheduled to permanently shut down in the spring 2022.
Entergy previously announced plans to sell Palisades to Holtec
International for decommissioning following its shutdown.
View original content to download
multimedia:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/entergys-indian-point-unit-3-to-permanently-shut-down-301279342.html
SOURCE Entergy Corporation