> Below is a cache of http://www.riverkeeper.org/dyn-content/documents/33945ba20392fb26.pdf. It's a snapshot of the page taken as our search engine crawled the Web.
The web site itself may have changed. You can check the current page or check for previous versions at the Internet Archive. Yahoo! is not affiliated with the authors of this page or responsible for its content.
Free Executive Summary Alternatives to the Indian Point Energy Center for Meeting New York Electric Power Needs (Free Executive Summary)
http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11666.html
Free Executive Summary
ISBN: 0-309-10172-7, 196 pages, 8 1/2 x 11, paperback (2006)
This executive summary plus thousands more available at www.nap.edu.
Alternatives to the Indian Point Energy Center for
Meeting New York Electric Power Needs
Committee on Alternatives to Indian Point for Meeting
Energy Needs, National Research Council
This free executive summary is provided by the National Academies as
part of our mission to educate the world on issues of science, engineering,
and health. If you are interested in reading the full book, please visit us
online at http://www.nap.edu/catalog/11666.html . You may browse and
search the full, authoritative version for free; you may also purchase a print
or electronic version of the book. If you have questions or just want more
information about the books published by the National Academies Press,
please contact our customer service department toll-free at 888-624-8373.
Since the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, many in the
New York City area have become concerned about the possible consequences of a
similarattack on the Indian Point nuclear power plantslocated about 40 miles from
Manhattan,and have made calls for their closure. Any closure, however, would require
actions toreplace the 2000 MW of power supplied by the plants. To examine this issue in
detail,the Congress directed DOE to request a study from the NRC of options for
replacing thepower. This report presents detailed review of both demand and supply
options forreplacing that power as well as meeting expected demand growth in the
region. It alsoassesses institutional considerations for these options along with their
expected impacts.Finally, the report provides an analysis of scenarios for implementing
the replacementoptions using simulation modeling.
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. Permission is granted for this material to be
shared for noncommercial, educational purposes, provided that this notice appears on the
reproduced materials, the Web address of the online, full authoritative version is retained,
and copies are not altered. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written
permission from the National Academies Press. 1
Abstract
This report presents the work of the Committee on Alter-
natives to Indian Point for Meeting Energy Needs. It reviews
various options that are available for replacing the 2,000
megawatts of energy produced by the two nuclear reactors at
Indian Point and assesses some of the requirements and im-
pacts of installing the options in an appropriate time frame.
The Indian Point Energy Center is a key part of the elec-
tric power system that serves New York City and densely
populated surrounding areas. Maintaining reliability of elec-
tric supply in the area is essential.
Even with Indian Point operating, new capacity will be
needed to meet expected growth in the region and to replace
other generating plant retirements. Replacing the two oper-
ating Indian Point generation units would add to the com-
plexity of the task. Options are constrained by various tech-
nological, regulatory, financial, and infrastructure factors
that must be considered in planning for a reliable electric
energy supply for southeastern New York State.
Based on all of the information available to it, the com-
mittee identified no insurmountable technical barriers to the
replacement of Indian Points capacity, energy, and ancil-
lary services. However, significant financial, institutional,
regulatory, and political barriers also would have to be over-
come to avoid threatening reliability. As this report dis-
cusses, many replacement options exist, and if a decision
were definitely made to close all or some part of Indian Point
by a date certain, the committee anticipates that a technically
feasible replacement strategy for Indian Point could be
achievable. A replacement strategy would most likely con-
sist of a portfolio of the approaches discussed in this report,
including investments in energy efficiency, transmission,
and new generation.
While the committee is optimistic that technical solutions
do exist for the replacement of Indian Point, it is consider-
ably less confident that the necessary political, regulatory,
financial, and institutional mechanisms are in place to facili-
tate the timely implementation of these replacement options.
The importance of this issue cannot be overstated in devel-
oping options for maintaining a reliable electric energy sup-
ply for the New York City metropolitan area. The report
discusses in greater detail various aspects of this challenge
and includes specific conclusions and findings.
Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
This executive summary plus thousands more available at http://www.nap.edu
Alternatives to the Indian Point Energy Center for Meeting New York Electric Power Needs
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11666.html Copyright © National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
This executive summary plus thousands more available at http://www.nap.edu
Alternatives to the Indian Point Energy Center for Meeting New York Electric Power Needs
http://books.nap.edu/catalog/11666.html 3
Summary and Findings
This report presents the work of the Committee on Alter-
natives to Indian Point for Meeting Energy Needs. For over
a year, the committee reviewed a wide range of potential
options and assessed the feasibility of implementing these
options on a scale and a timetable sufficient to replace the
capacity, energy, and essential ancillary services now pro-
vided by the two operating nuclear reactors at Indian Point.
The committee recognizes the magnitude and the com-
plexity of the issue that it was asked to study. Indian Point
Units 2 and 3 provide about 2,000 megawatts (MW) of
baseload generating capacity in one of the most densely
populated areas in the nation. Its output represents 11 per-
cent of the total generating capacity in southeastern New
York (i.e., Long Island, New York City, and Westchester
County) and 23 percent of the electric energy delivered in
this region.
Based on all of the information available to it, the com-
mittee has identified no technical obstacles that it believes
present insurmountable barriers to the replacement of Indian
Points capacity, energy, and ancillary services. As this re-
port discusses, a wide and varied range of replacement op-
tions exists, and if a decision were definitely made to close
all or some part of Indian Point by a date certain, the com-
mittee anticipates that a technically feasible replacement
strategy for Indian Point would be achievable. Replacements
for Indian Point would be in addition to generating and trans-
mission capacity needed for expected growth in the region
and because of other plant retirements.
The report does not propose a single solution to the
replacement of Indian Point. That was neither the com-
mittees directive nor its mission. Indeed, from the commit-
tees analysis, no right or clearly preferable supply alter-
native to Indian Point emerged. A replacement strategy for
Indian Point would most likely consist of a portfolio of the
approaches discussed in this report, including investments in
energy efficiency, transmission, and new generation.
While the committee is optimistic that technical solutions
do exist for the replacement of Indian Point, it is consider-
ably less confident that the necessary political, regulatory,
financial, and institutional mechanisms are in place to facili-
tate the timely implementation of these replacement options.
The importance of addressing the nontechnical barriers can-
not be overstated in developing options for maintaining a
reliable electric energy supply for southeastern New York
State. The report discusses in greater detail various aspects
of this challenge and includes specific conclusions and
findings.
Reliability is a key consideration, especially during peak
demand. Adequate generating and transmission capacity ex-
ists to replace Indian Point during nonpeak hours, although
costs might be significantly higher because Indian Point is
the low-cost baseload unit. Reliability of power supply de-
pends on several factors, including fuel availability, genera-
tion reserve, peaking load, and the growth in electric
demand, both locally and regionally. An element of a reli-
able electricity supply also involves the stability of the
transmission-distribution system. In general, the electric
system in the Northeast is carefully