The Indian Point nuclear power plant, on the banks of the Hudson River about 30 miles north of New York City, first opened in 1962 and was greatly expanded in the 1970s. For many years it was a monument to technological optimism. On a site smaller than that of a shopping mall, the plant’s two reactors could produce over 2,000 megawatts of electricity, enough to supply more than a quarter of the city’s power needs—safely and reliably, without a trace of emissions.

Indian Point could have gone on producing clean, dependable power for decades. But this was not to be. Thanks to pressure from the environmental group Riverkeeper and the ambitions of Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a deal was struck in 2017 requiring Indian Point to go dark four years later. 

Read more in the Wall Street Journal here.

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