When Indian Point Closes:  A Regional Forum on Workforce Transition

Now that Indian Point Units 2 and 3 are slated to close in 2020 and 2021, it’s time to turn our focus to ensuring economic and workforce development and the safest possible decommissioning of the reactors, fuel pools and related facilities.  This includes retaining workers with valuable institutional knowledge and technical skills, and retraining and placement in similar industries for those few who will not retire, but will no longer be needed at the plant.

FORUM TO PRESENT EXPERT SOURCES ON NAVIGATING IMPACTS OF INDIAN POINT’S CLOSURE

WHAT?  Indian Point will soon shut down permanently, with its two operating reactors slated to close in 2020 and 2021, respectively.  That raises thorny, vital but as yet unanswered questions about protecting public health and safety as the plant enters its decommissioning phase, such as what to do with its dangerous stranded radioactive waste, and about managing the economic impacts of closure, such as  how to achieve a just transition for plant workers and surrounding communities to life after Indian Point.

The New York State Indian Point Closure Task Force and the Indian Point Community Unity Task Force are exploring these questions now, as are the local governments of the affected towns.  The stakes for the area’s economy and for plant workers and their families are high, and the time to start exploring the options that can lead to better outcomes is now.

To that end, Hudson River Sloop Clearwater and The Journal News/lohud.com are co-sponsoring a unique forum on the economic and job impacts of plant closure and decommissioning on November 3, entitled “When Indian Point Closes:  A Regional Forum on Workforce Transition”

It will present experts on job and economic impacts of plant closure and decommissioning, including worker retention (how many of Indian Point’s workers not slated to retire can and should be retained during the decommissioning phase to make the plant safer?), workforce development, worker retraining/placement for those who do lose their jobs, and the costs and risks to communities of managing stranded radioactive waste.  It will also present updates from public officials responsible for working through these issues regarding Indian Point, as well as experts who have confronted them in other parts of the country (Oyster Creek in New Jersey, Vermont Yankee, Diablo Canyon in California, and Zion, Illinois) and can share their experiences of what worked and what didn’t.

The forum is free and open to the public, and the media is invited to attend and cover.

WHO?  The audience for the briefing will include members of local and state-appointed task forces planning for Indian Point’s closure, elected officials from the surrounding area, government agencies, workers’ unions, community groups, and other stakeholders and concerned citizens.  Experts presenting at the forum will include:

• Thomas Carey,President, Westchester Putnam Central Labor Council (invited)
• Ross Gould,Energy Sector Program Manager, Workforce Development Institute
• Al Hill,Mayor of Zion, Illinois which is still struggling with the legacy of a nuclear plant decommissioned in 1998 (invited)
• KevinKamps, Radioactive Waste Watchdog, Beyond Nuclear
• Dave Kraft, Executive Director, Nuclear Energy Information Services (invited)
• Mario Musolino,Executive Deputy Commissioner, NY State Department of Labor
• Damon Moglen, Senior Strategic Advisory, Friends of the Earth (invited)
• DebKatz, Executive Director, Citizens Awareness Network
• Linda Puglisi,Supervisor, Town of Cortlandt
• John Sipos,Attorney, NY State Public Service Commission  (invited)
• John Twomey,Workforce Consultant, John A. Twomey & Associates
• RichardWebster, Legal Director, Riverkeeper

WHEN & WHERE?  The forum will be held Friday November 3, 2017, 9:00am to 12:30pm at the Desmond Fish Library, 472 Route 403 (at the corner of Route 9D) in Garrison, New York.   It is free and open the public, with first priority given to elected officials and Indian Point task force members, but with plenty of room for concerned citizens to attend.  We can also accommodate all journalists who want to attend, but since space is limited, please RSVP in advance if possible.  If not, walk-ins are OK.   If you want to publish an advance notice of the meeting in your outlet, that’s welcome, but please let your audience know that due to limited space people will need to pre-register here to attend. For journalists, however, it’s sufficient to RSVP.  To do so, to request the forum agenda or other information, and/or to arrange side interviews, please contact Stephen Kent, skent@kentcom.com, 914-589-5988.