Dunkirk, NY (WBEN) Dunkirk is one of eight communities the New York Power Authority says has expressed an interest in having a nuclear power plant. There is mixed reaction in the Chautauqua County city.
State Senator George Borrello says Dunkirk is the perfect place. "All the elements for a nuclear power plant are right there," says Borrello. "You have access to water, which is an important part of it. You've got infrastructure already there because the plant generated power for decades, and you have a skilled workforce-the people that used to work at the plant, but also people that work in other industries related." He says there's new technology that would be a small footprint and it would generate a lot of power like the former NRG plant used to.
Borrello adds this would be a boost for Dunkirk's economy. "They faced nearly doubling their tax rates, the NRG plant was the largest taxpayer in Chautauqua County, and certainly the largest taxpayer for the city of Dunkirk. The economic impact of the of the shuttering of that plant has has been really devastating for Dunkirk. So, restoring power generation there is not only good strategically for New York State because it's desperately needed, but it also would be a big economic boost for Dunkirk and for all of Chautauqua County," notes Borrello.
He says a forum for local elected officials and some key stakeholders, high energy users recently took place. "We spent two hours covering those topics, and I will tell you that there were some skeptics in the room at the beginning. After two hours of listening to experts from all areas, you had educators there, people that are in the nuclear business, people in the in the in the business of recycling nuclear waste. In fact, giving their presentation, everybody walked out of there believing that this is the right move," notes Borrello. On the issue of safety, Borrello says New York already has nuclear power plants operating. "You have Nine Mile Point and others on Lake Ontario, and actually, the safety record for nuclear power in the United States is is unblemished." He contends there's a lot of misinformation, a lot of fearmongering, and "then there's those folks who think we can somehow power New York State on wind and solar, which is just not going to happen. It's costly. It's intermittent, and it's the reason why we we are we're watching our electric bills skyrocket right now, and our reliability and and safety margins dwindle is because of this irresponsible energy policy that has included this you know disjointed push towards wind and solar, which is really the the main reason why New York cannot meet its current energy needs, let alone the energy needs for the technology of the future."
Common Councilmember Natalie Luczkowiak says most people in her city are against the power plant. "I personally am not for it either, but I mean, I won't get mad if we get it because we do need the money," says Luczkowiak, citing the city's financial concerns. While it's come a long way from Chernobyl, she has a major concern. "I would hate to have something like that so close to our precious natural resource here," she says.
Another concern is how to get rid of the nuclear waste. "They showed us in the forum that we had here that they put it in a vat for 10 years, and then they put it deep, deep in the ground. After that, and that to me is not safe enough," says Luczkowiak. "They were pretty vague when I did ask them about what kind of solutions do they have when things happen. They were a little caught a little off guard with some of my tough questions, and so that made me also think that perhaps these nuclear plants just-I'm not sure if they're ready to even be here at all.."
Luczkowiak concedes it would be a financial boost. "I'm sure that we would whatever sales they make, we of course get a portion of it. It would be a boost for the whole county," says Luczkowiak, but believes there are better ways to generate revenue. "We have proven. City of Dunkirk has proven we're we're expanding wells. They're putting millions and billions in there with a new. We have a new battery storage unit that's going to net us a million every every year. So I don't think we really have to do that because Dunkirk is a city of industry. We've got Purina. We've got we we've got a lot a lot of different industry here in the city of Dunkirk, and I and I don't think we, you know, we have proven that we can you know go forth with that, and I don't think we really need to. Unless we have our summer season here with the lake, I don't think we need to do that."
The state has not made any decisions on where to place a power plant yet.
NYPA says eight communities sought power plant
NYPA says eight communities sought power plant
