Environmental News

Holtec Has No Imminent Plans to Restart Indian Point

Published 5 months ago5m ago • Bookmarks: 618 • Comments: 4

September 30, 2025

By Rick Pezzullo—

The company decommissioning the nuclear power plants at Indian Point is not planning to restart the facility any time soon.

During a meeting last week of the New York State Indian Point Decommissioning Oversight Board in Cortlandt, Patrick O’Brien, Director of Communications and Government Affairs for Holtec International, insisted reports of the company turning the switch back on at the 240-acre site in Buchanan were not true.

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“We are not actively looking to do that,” O’Brien said. “If the political will was there, we would listen. We would consider it. Doesn’t mean we would do it. With time and money, anything can happen. It can be done. To rebuild the plant is still possible.”

O’Brien estimated it would take at least four years and between $8 and $10 billion to repower Indian Point.

Indian Point, which operated since 1962, closed on April 30, 2021.

Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins expressed strong opposition to Holtec even considering a reboot of Indian Point.

“Opening this plant again is a hard no. New York State has access to low-cost, environmentally conscious energy alternatives including solar, wind, geothermal and hydropower – we don’t need or want Indian Point Back. The health and safety of millions of residents in the Hudson Valley is worth more than any power plant,” Jenkins said. “We have been through this once and we still are feeling the impacts, and we are not doing it again. We absolutely do not support reactivating a facility that continues to pose a threat to our community and our environment.”

Meanwhile, O’Brien also said Holtec was not looking to dump radioactive wastewater from the plants “in the near term,” despite getting the go-ahead from a federal judge last week.

“We’re not rushing to do anything,” he said.

Holtec representatives have said the discharge of the wastewater is regulated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Holtec has permits from both the EPA and New York State that govern the releases.

Holtec has also stressed that the discharge of the water has been occurring at the plants for decades. Opponents have argued there are alternatives Holtec can consider to handle the wastewater, such as storing it on site in sealed containers.

“The Hudson is the lifeblood of our region – a source of recreation, natural beauty and economic vitality – and we cannot allow it to become a dumping ground for radioactive waste. Westchester residents, and all New Yorkers on both sides of the Hudson River, deserve better,” Jenkins stated.

One thing Holtec is pursuing is releasing a portion of the property for commercial use. In particular, Holtec would like to have the Indian Point campus serve as an anchor site for HI-CLOUD, a new initiative involving a one million-square-foot, 200 MW utility-ready data center.

Such a project would require the approval of the Village of Buchanan.

“This announcement is a public relations stunt to raise money for Holtec’s Wall Street IPO in January,” contended Tina Bongar, co-organizer of United for Clean Energy and STOP HOLTEC. “Not only does Holtec want investors to sink money into their unsubstantiated scheme, but they want us taxpayers and ratepayers to foot the bill.”

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