Gov. Kathy Hochul last week announced plans for New York state to build a nuclear power facility. While it’s not a renewable resource, it would produce carbon-free power during its operation.

While many harbor safety concerns associated with nuclear power, some experts point to questions about affordability.

What You Need To Know

  • Some say nuclear power is a safe way to produce energy, as long as the plant is well-managed and maintained

  • Their concerns over building an upstate facility focus more on costs

  • The state is proposing to build a nuclear power plant that could produce enough power to energize 1 million homes

“If I were sitting across the table from the governor, I'd say, take your time. Learn from other’s successes and mistakes,” said David Schlissel, former director of resource planning analysis and co-founder at the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.

Schlissel is a rocket engineer who's studied nuclear engineering and is aware of concerns over the safety of nuclear power.

“If they're not run and maintained well, there's the risk of an accident,” he said.

He has a much bigger concern.

And that's why his message for Hochul, who proposes working with the New York Power Authority to build a state-owned nuclear power plant, has nothing to do with safety.

It's more about economics.

“Whatever you are being told it's going to cost is likely an understatement. It's almost certainly going to take far longer to build,” Schlissel said.

“It's a concern shared by Syracuse University Department of Geography and the Environment professor Matt Huber.

“It's no secret that nuclear has been known for being very costly,” Huber said.

They both cite two recent projects as examples.

One in South Carolina that was scrapped completely due to delays and a ballooning budget — and that was after $9 billion had already been spent — and one in Georgia that did get finished, but came in seven years late and $17 billion over its initial budget.

Ratepayers are still paying for those oversights.

“I think it's a mistake to go down that road. There are other alternatives,” Schlissel said.

However, Huber believes that if a project is to move forward, a public one like what New York state is proposing is the way to go. While he says Georgia had problems, he also points to the post-build in which there's been some significant economic benefit.

“If you look at the announcement that Kathy Hochul made, I mean, they're very much angling for that. They think building nuclear will actually lead to not just Micron, but other kinds of large-scale manufacturing to kind of resuscitate this economy."

Huber believes Micron can be a key in all of this, not only offering its support for the project, but knowing that as it comes online, it will need a massive amount of power.

The state is hopeful that its new proposed plant could produce enough energy to power 1 million homes.