Planning the Fate of a Nuclear Plant’s Land (Shoreham, Long Island)

[jpak]

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/04/nyregion/long-island/04shorehamli.html

TWO decades after the $6 billion Shoreham nuclear power plant was closed, the Long Island Power Authority has announced plans to hire a consultant to advise it on what to do with a 58-acre waterfront property where the plant’s decommissioned remains are located.

The authority’s 1.1 million customers have never received energy from the Shoreham plant, the only fully licensed nuclear power reactor never to go into commercial operation, and are still paying off its remaining debt — now $3.3 billion — in their electric bills.

Kevin S. Law, the authority’s president and chief executive, said that selling the property would be considered and could help retire some of the Shoreham debt. LIPA or a buyer could make use of the plant for a new purpose or simply work around it.

Mr. Law and members of a Shoreham advisory committee he created in April said other possibilities for the site included an alternative energy park or research center; conversion of the nuclear plant into a natural gas-powered generator or construction of a new gas plant; a manufacturing or industrial operation not related to energy production; some combination of these uses; and even a tourist attraction.

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[madokie]

1. From wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shoreham_Nuclear_Power_Plant

The plant was conceived by the Long Island Lighting Company (LILCO) and was built between 1973 and 1984. Its location on Long Island Sound — near the mouth of the small stream that forms the border between Brookhaven and Riverhead towns — was largely rural at the time (although within 60 miles of Manhattan).

It drew increasingly intense opposition after the 1979 Three Mile Island accident and the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, resulting in delays and cost increases before New York Governor Mario Cuomo pulled the plug in a state takeover of the plant. The state would ultimately take over LILCO also.

In contrast, a virtual twin, the 660 MWe Millstone 1, was ordered in 1966 across the Long Island Sound in Connecticut. It was completed for $101 million and became fully operational within five years of receiving a construction permit, producing power until July 21, 1998.

After completion, Shoreham received a low power license and underwent low power testing, but never produced any commercial electric power, due to the fact that New York Governor Mario Cuomo's representatives did not sign the Emergency Evacuation Plan. This meant that it could not receive a full power license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

On May 19, 1989, LILCO agreed not to operate the plant in a deal with the state under which most of the $6 billion cost of the unused plant was passed along to Long Island residents. The Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), headed by Richard Kessel, was created in 1986 specifically to buy the plant from LILCO (which it did in 1992). The plant was fully decommissioned in 1994.