Indian Point Nuclear Plant Shuts Down, and New York Races for Wind Power – Bloomberg

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Indian Point Nuclear Plant Shuts Down, and New York Races for Wind Power – Bloomberg

One of the pair of active nuclear reactors within blast radius of Manhattan made a federal safety watch-list back in 1993. That’s when regulators cited Unit 3 at the Indian Point Energy Center for leaky coolant pipes and faltering engineering support. Shortly thereafter a control-room operator tested positive for marijuana and cocaine. But none of that helped activists’ long quest to turn off the nuclear plant.

Up until Friday, when Indian Point’s final reactor will be shut down, dogged opposition from environmentalists and safety advocates failed for decades to shut it down permanently. The two reactors produced about 2.1 gigawatts of power for nearly 45 years—enough to meet a quarter of demand from New York City, without emitting greenhouse gas.

This should be a milestone for activists who spent more than a generation trying to remove the nuclear shadow over the biggest U.S. metropolis. It has instead brought into focus a different anxiety: global warming. In the intervening years concern over greenhouse gas has become paramount, and the deactivation of Indian Point comes with a certain—if temporary—increase in planet-warming pollution.

New York’s Indian Point nuclear power plant closes after 59 years of operation – Today in Energy – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

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New York’s Indian Point nuclear power plant closes after 59 years of operation – Today in Energy – U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

The Indian Point Energy Center (Indian Point) permanently stopped generating electricity on April 30, 2021, when it retired its last operating nuclear reactor, Unit 3, earlier than originally planned. The Indian Point nuclear power plant began operations in 1962 and produced over 565 terawatthours (TWh) of electricity in the 59 years it was open. The Unit 3 retirement removes almost 1,040 megawatts (MW) of nuclear generating capacity from New York State, leaving about 3,200 MW of remaining nuclear capacity at three plants in upstate New York.

Indian Point is located in Buchanan, New York, about 25 miles north of Midtown Manhattan. The plant had three pressurized water reactors. Unit 1 began operations in 1962 and shut down in 1974. Units 2 and 3 began operations in 1974 and 1976, respectively; Unit 2 retired in April 2020. The Consolidated Edison grid system distributed the plant’s electricity to the five boroughs of New York City and neighboring Westchester County.

Ravena cement plant reaches $850,000 settlement over pollution allegations

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Ravena cement plant reaches $850,000 settlement over pollution allegations

The settlement resolves allegations in legal complaints by state and federal officials that, between April 2015 and April 2021, the facility violated the effluent limitations 273 times for pollutants such as fecal coliform, suspended solids, and solids.

They also alleged unauthorized discharges of sulfuric acid and discharges of partially treated landfill leachate to tributaries of the Hudson River, such as Coeymans Creek and Hannacroix Creek. Sulfuric acid is used to reduce the alkalinity from kiln dust that ends up in holding ponds.

During negotiations with state and federal officials, Holcim made substantial improvements to its stormwater and leachate management practices to address the violations at issue.

That included the demolition and removal of two failing slurry basins, and installing an impermeable geomembrane-backed drain along a portion of the perimeter of its landfill. The company has also agreed to undertake additional measures.

April 30, 2021 Morning

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Good morning! Where did April go? Same thing that happened Indian Point. ⚛ No more, just for the history books. 👴🏼 Tomorrow is May, although I’ve already heard of reports of black flies 🐜 in the Adirondacks. Starting to green up a lot around here. 🌿 Next Friday is 8 PM Sunset 🌇 . Mostly cloudy and 53 degrees in Delmar, NY. ☁ There is a west breeze at 14 mph. 🍃. The dew point is 46 degrees. A few breaks of sun, kind of breezy, and we expect the skies will clear around 9 am.

Today start out mostly cloudy 🌥 but become sunny and windy 🌞 🌬 , with a high of 55 degrees at 11am. Nine degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 9th. Maximum dew point of 46 at 8am. Windy, with a west wind 14 to 19 mph increasing to 26 to 31 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 55 mph. 🌬 That’s the State Speed Limit! A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 59 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 1903. There was a dusting of snow in 2008.❄

Should be a pretty nice day. 😀 Kind of a busy one with work though, 💼 as I have meetings and other things to do throughout the day. I really should try to get down to the laundromat 👕 and maybe work down at the library, 💻 but after working up in Speculator and being off-grid all weekend camping, I actually am doing quite well managing my bandwidth. But it seems like I am using more bandwidth lately with work, as things just have been pretty busy. Sometimes it’s nice to be down at the library and not have to be constantly watching the meter. 📶

Solar noon 🌞 is at 12:53 pm with sun having an altitude of 62.3° from the due south horizon (-8.6° vs. 6/21). A six foot person will cast a 3.2 foot shadow today compared to 2.2 feet on the first day of summer. The golden hour 🏅 starts at 7:16 pm with the sun in the west-northwest (285°). 📸 The sunset is in the west-northwest (291°) with the sun dropping below the horizon at 7:55 pm after setting for 3 minutes and 6 seconds with dusk around 8:25 pm, which is one minute and 8 seconds later than yesterday. 🌇 The best time to look at the stars is after 9:03 pm. At sunset, look for partly cloudy skies 🌃 and temperatures around 46 degrees. Blustery, 🌬 with a stiff breeze at 28 mph the west-northwest with gusts up to 47mph. Pulling out all the superlatives today. Today will have 14 hours and 3 minutes of daytime, an increase of 2 minutes and 31 seconds over yesterday.

Tonight will have a chance of rain showers, mixing with snow after midnight, then gradually ending. Mostly cloudy 🌧, with a low of 36 degrees at 4am. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical night around April 12th. Windy, with a northwest wind 16 to 26 mph, with gusts as high as 45 mph. Chance of precipitation is 50%. Little or no snow accumulation expected. That could be a cold night fo sure, especially up north. In 2020, we had cloudy skies in the evening, which became partly cloudy by the early hours of the morning. It got down to 49 degrees. The record low of 28 occurred back in 2008.

Tomorrow will be mostly sunny 🌞, with a high of 58 degrees at 4pm. Seven degrees below normal, which is similar to a typical day around April 15th. Northwest wind 13 to 15 mph. A year ago, we had light rain in the morning, which became cloudy by afternoon. The high last year was 61 degrees. The record high of 86 was set in 2001. There was a dusting of snow in 1978.❄

No ideas what my plan will be for the weekend, 🚶‍♀️ although walking out to Five Rivers is always a good option. 🐸 Doesn’t cost anything to go for a walk, except maybe for some wear and tear on my boots, and I’m going to have to think about replacing them fairly soon. 👢 Been very happy with those steel-toe boots I got from Wally World online last September, maybe I should order them again along with some jeans, as most of my jeans are worn out 👖 as I haven’t bought any in over a year and a half, as working from home, nobody cares if you clothes are worn out, as long as you wear a jacket and dress shirt for the Zoom meetings. 📽

Looking ahead to Sunday, a slight chance of showers. 😎 Partly sunny, with a high near 69. West wind 6 to 9 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%. Maximum dew point of 47 at 11am. Maybe I’ll do some fishing 🎣 and hiking up at Partridge Run. Not sure. Typical average high for the weekend is 65 degrees.

I am kind of thinking about heading out of town next weekend, 🏕 if the weather is decent. Maybe not the Adirondacks, as I hear the Black Flies are out in the force. Considering Schoharie County and Madison County, but there are other options too. I do have my therapy session on Friday afternoon but I could cancel or reschedule that if I want to leave on Thursday night and work from out in the field. 💻 I guess I could find out if I could do that remotely too. I don’t have any in-person meetings scheduled for next week, and as long as I have cell reception and enough solar power, I can work from virtually anywhere I want. 💻

As previously noted, next Friday is 8 PM Sunset 🌇 when the sun will be setting at 8:02 pm with dusk at 8:33 pm. On that day in 2020, we had partly sunny, rain showers and temperatures between 65 and 43 degrees. Typically, the high temperature is 67 degrees. We hit a record high of 92 back in 1930.

Middle Falls