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Is NY going nuclear? Not anytime soon, energy analysts say.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 14, 2025
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Tony, CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 14, 2025
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New York is trying to go nuclear.
As the Empire State struggles to meet demand for clean energy, there’s been renewed interest in the atom-splitting power source. In June, Gov. Kathy Hochul committed to building at least 1 gigawatt, enough to power about 1 million homes.
Experts refer to the renewed interest as a “nuclear renaissance,” with innovations such as smaller reactors as well as the promise of enough reliable emission-free energy to feed the growing demand of data centers and electrification. It’s also the one low-carbon energy source that President Donald Trump isn’t actively trying to undermine.
But nuclear experts warn that building a functioning nuclear power plant is a long, expensive endeavor that is difficult to locate, regardless of reactor size. The Union of Concerned Scientists also pointed out that there are still safety concerns even with new technology, and that renewable energy sources are a far safer, cost-effective option.
“It's a low-carbon emissions source, but you have to put in the context of other types of electricity generation that are also low-carbon, but have fewer of the costs and risks like most renewables,” said Edwin Lyman, director of nuclear power safety at the Union of Concerned Scientists. “Nuclear power is still a very expensive option.”
The new generation of nuclear reactors
The traditional nuclear power plant was made up of one or more reactors, each with about 1 gigawatt of power. Indian Point, which former Gov. Andrew Cuomo shuttered in 2021, had two reactors and was good for about 2,000 megawatts for New York City, or roughly 25% of the city’s demand. Much of that power now comes from fossil fuels.
At the New York City Nuclear Symposium held during last month’s Climate Week, the trends pointed to smaller reactors, ranging from 300 megawatt modular units that can replace a gas-fired facility to a 5-megawatt micro-reactor that could power small rural communities.
“If we're going to be replacing coal plants or older plants that are shutting down, that are smaller, we don't need to come in with a gigawatt scale,” said Doug True, chief nuclear officer at the Nuclear Energy Institute. “It's not just replacing a plant, but now I'm trying to meet this very large load growth that almost all parts of the country are facing.”
According to True, these modular units are theoretically faster and cheaper to build because they’re smaller and many of the components can be pre-manufactured and then installed on site. He said there are roughly 60 projects across North America that are considering the deployment of modular reactors.
A standard 1 gigawatt reactor takes about a decade to build and the cost can range from $10 billion-$28 billion per reactor. Plant Vogtle in Georgia, one of the most recent facilities to come online, cost about $15 billion per reactor and took 15 years to construct. In contrast, New York’s offshore wind project Sunrise 1 costs around one-tenth as much as a Vogtle reactor and, despite Trump’s pause on its construction, it will be built in less than three years.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy, there are currently no modular reactors in the United States, but on the other side of Lake Ontario, Canada started building the first of four modular units last spring. Ontario Power Generation, the plant owner, estimates construction time at two to three years, but it won’t be operational until 2030. The cost of the first reactor will be about $4.4 billion with the total for all four reactors coming in around $15 billion and around a decade to build. All four units will bring in around the same power as a traditional reactor at roughly the same cost and construction time.
Last month, Politico reported that Holtec had a plan to restart Indian Point’s nuclear facility, which the company is actively decommissioning. The proposal was to build a 300 megawatt modular reactor at a cost of $10 billion on a four-year construction timeline.
”It's not a given just because the reactor is smaller, that it's going to be cheaper and quicker to build,” Lyman said. “You're going to be getting less electricity. What really matters is the unit cost of electricity, what the reactor produces, and if you have a lower capital cost, but you end up producing electricity, that's going to raise everyone's bills significantly then you've made a mistake.”
Safety issues
While Trump has voiced support for nuclear power, he’s shown less interest in the rigorous safety protocols that go with it. He issued an executive order in May to “reform” the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, criticizing its “prolonged timelines" and its safety standard that states there is no safe threshold of radiation exposure. The order states that radiation standards “produce irrational results, such as requiring that nuclear plants protect against radiation below naturally occurring levels.”
Lyman expressed concern for the integrity of Trump’s Nuclear Regulatory Commission to review projects rigorously and do its job independently to ensure new nuclear projects are safe.
”The Trump administration … has essentially commanded the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to weaken all its safety and security regulations.” Lyman said. “We're going in a very dangerous direction. My message to New York is you can't trust the federal government as it's currently headed to safely license nuclear reactors anywhere in the country, including New York state.”
Reactors require extensive protection from leaks, accidents and attacks, and there still isn't a sustainable way to store radioactive waste, according to Lyman and other scientists.
Location concerns
Finding a place to put a nuclear reactor is a difficult task. After 9/11, fears around Indian Point’s proximity to New York City mounted for decades until critics, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., prevailed in getting it shut down.
Oswego County Administrator Phil Church told Gothamist that his region, home to the only three operating reactors in the Empire State, is ready to host another. Communities that host nuclear reactors receive millions of dollars in economic benefits, including funding for local school districts.
Experts said reusing the site of a former or existing nuclear facility is more cost-effective than building on a new site since those sites already have federal approval and are already connected to transmission lines.
But many communities are not so eager or convinced.
When Holtec announced its proposal to restart Indian Point, local residents and elected officials protested and voiced their opposition to the idea at the decommissioning board meeting last month.
"Opening this plant again is a hard no," Westchester County Executive Ken Jenkins said at September’s decommissioning board meeting. "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."
Jenkins requested that the Westchester County Board of Legislators formally oppose the plan, citing health and safety concerns. Lyman said that locating a nuclear reactor in a densely populated area is not a good practice.
Indian Point is located about 35 miles up the Hudson River from New York City. At that distance, the city would be at risk. Lyman pointed out that a new reactor on the same site would likely have less safety features due to regulatory rollbacks.
“I did an evaluation, which found that a meltdown with a containment failure at one of the Indian Point reactors, could have triggered the need to evacuate New York City,” Lyman said.
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Rosemary Misdary
Rosemary is health & science reporter. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 646-544-9524.
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