New York's Indian Point nuclear generating station will be closed by 2021. The announcement by the state's Governor on Monday is a belated win for activists who
fought for years to close the dangerously located facility. Indian
Point is situated on the banks of the Hudson River, on top of an active fault in densely populated Westchester County [photo]. See Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America, Vol. 98, No. 4, pp. 1696–1719, August 2008. About 20 million people
live near the two reactors. Besides all of these risks, the
reactors are old, have a history of leaking radioactivity and are nearing the end of their design life. The state has made plans to buy hydroelectricity from Quebec, and has approved a new transmission line to replace the 30% of the area's energy needs now provided by Indian Point. New York is also planning a large (90MW) offshore wind farm east of Montauk, Long Island as replacement sources for retiring nuclear generation. If completed it will be the largest offshore wind generation station in the US. Northern Europe has met success with its offshore installations and leads the world in installed offshore capacity. Development of offshore wind power in the US has been delayed by higher costs, and local opposition such as that embroils Massachusetts' long-delayed Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound.