FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Monday June 23rd, 2025
Contact: Roger Downs (518) 944 0992, roger.downs@sierraclub.org
SIERRA CLUB DECRIES GOVERNOR HOCHUL’S PLAN TO SPEND BILLIONS DEVELOPING NEW “ADVANCED’ NUCLEAR ENERGY IN NEW YORK
Nation’s Oldest Environmental Group Declares Advanced Nuclear Power is Dangerous, Expensive and a Time Wasting Distraction From Real Climate Solutions.
Buffalo, NY- In direct contradiction to her consistent focus on safety and affordability, Governor Kathy Hochul today directed the New York Power Authority (NYPA) to develop and construct an advanced nuclear power plant in an yet to be disclosed location in Upstate New York, expressing unfounded concern that New York could not achieve its climate goals without such an investment. Conversely, the Sierra Club asserted that achieving NY's ambitious climate goals under the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) will be difficult if we continue to distract our primary energy and environmental agencies with expensive, false solutions like new nuclear energy plants which are a risky, impractical and unproven technology. New York State's own Climate Action Council established that there is a pathway forward if we accelerate the buildout of solar, wind, and geothermal energy infrastructure, maximize energy storage facilities and pursue energy efficiency programs.
New York is already burdened by the environmental and economic costs of misadventure with the nuclear industry. The leaking nuclear disposal site in West Valley, NY comes with a $10 billion price tag for clean up and remediation. Long Island ratepayers are still financing the $6 billion Shoreham Nuclear powerplant, whose construction began in 1973, but closed in 1989 without ever producing any significant power, due to safety concerns. And cost overruns on the $6.4 billion Nine Mile Point 2 reactor caused electricity prices to spike, tanked Niagara Mohawk's stock value, and eventually led to the utility's near-bankruptcy. The allegedly new and cutting edge advanced nuclear generation technologies and Small Modular Reactors (SMR) have proven to be prohibitively expensive, even as current federal subsidies continue to lure states to consider pilot projects. New York cannot afford another multi-billion dollar debacle that does nothing to support our electrical grid or advance our climate goals.
In Response, Kate Bartholomew, Chair of the Sierra Club Atlantic Chapter Said:
“New York needs decisive political leadership and bold investments of public dollars in renewable energy technologies we know will work. Governor Hochul’s proposal to siphon off those precious funds to subsidize new nuclear power facilities in New York will only prolong efforts to achieve our climate goals and at many times the cost. Pursuing nuclear technologies will slow the growth of safe renewable energy projects and commit New York to centuries of environmental risk as we will be forced to safeguard thousands of tons of additional radioactive waste. The Sierra Club implores Governor Hochul not to plunge NY deeper into nuclear debt, and remain steadfast to the renewable energy path we have undertaken. Nuclear power is a dangerous dead end and we urge you to stop pursuing the technology as a viable climate solution.”
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