US Entergy Corporation's Indian Point Energy Centre unit 3 was finally shut down on 30 April, after 60 years of operation. Closure of both units at Indian Point was announced in 2017, following a settlement agreement with the State of New York. Entergy said it was the result of a number of factors, including sustained low current and projected wholesale energy prices that reduced revenues. However, the decision ended a long-running dispute over the future of the plant. Environmental groups and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo had pushed for years to close Indian Point, arguing that it posed environmental dangers to the city. Indian Point Unit 2 was closed as scheduled on 30 April 2020.
"Unit 3 has been online continuously since 9 April 2019 – setting a new world record for continuous days of operation," said Chris Bakken, Entergy's Chief Nuclear Officer. "Indian Point's enduring legacy will be the thousands of men and women who operated the plant safely, reliably, and securely, while helping to power New York City and the lower Hudson Valley for nearly 60 years.”
The 1,041MWe unit generated electricity continuously for 751 days after it was last refuelled in April 2019 – a world record for commercial light water nuclear power reactors. The previous record for continuous days online was 739 and set in 2006 by Exelon's LaSalle unit 1 station.
Entergy purchased Indian Point 3 in 2000 and Indian Point 2, along with the permanently shut down unit 1, in 2001. Following Entergy's purchase from two separate owners, station personnel were aligned under one owner and reliability was enhanced, Entergy said. Gross combined generation at units 2 & 3 prior to Entergy's purchase averaged around 10TWh a year but in the 20 years following Entergy's purchase, gross generation averaged around 17TWH a year.
Unit 1 operated from 1962 to 1974. Unit 2 operated from 1974 to 2020. Unit 3 operated from 1976 to 2021.
In April 2019, Entergy announced the proposed post-shutdown sale of the subsidiaries that owned units 1-3 to a Holtec International subsidiary for prompt decommissioning. Holtec and its team plan to initiate decommissioning at Indian Point immediately following regulatory approval and transaction close, and it expects to release portions of the site for re-use by the mid-2030s, nearly 40 years sooner than if Entergy continued to own the facility.
In November 2019, Entergy and Holtec filed a petition with the New York Public Service Commission concerning the proposed transfer of Indian Point and a licence transfer application with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The NRC approved the transfer in November 2020.
Entergy owns and operates five nuclear power units in its regulated utility business, and is committed to the continued operation of its nuclear fleet in those locations. These NPPs are located in Louisiana, Arkansas and Mississippi, with a total capacity of more than 5,000MWe. Entergy also owns Palisades Power Plant, a nuclear power generating facility in Michigan, which is scheduled to permanently shut down in spring 2022. Entergy has announced plans to sell Palisades to Holtec International for decommissioning following its shutdown.
