New York
RatePayer Protection
Nuclear Moratorium

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AN ACT to amend the public authorities law, public service law and environmental conservation law, in relation to imposing a two-year moratorium on funding new nuclear power facilities by state agencies, authorities, or commissions, and to amend the public service law in relation to an independent assessment of nuclear power facilities.
 

The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:

 

Section 1. Legislative Findings
 

The Legislature hereby finds and declares:

 

1. It is the policy of New York State to protect natural resources, public health, and economic well-being by preventing pollution and advancing safe, clean and affordable energy systems.

 

2. The proposed development of nuclear power facilities represents a fundamental shift in state energy policy that is inconsistent with the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) mandate for an affordable, clean, and renewable energy transition.

 

3. New York’s own experience, including the Shoreham facility, illustrates the financial risks of nuclear power facilities, which resulted in substantial and lasting costs to ratepayers without delivering energy benefits.

 

4. Historical and recent evidence demonstrates that nuclear power facilities are among the most expensive and slowest energy sources to deploy, with significant cost overruns and delays. Recent U.S. projects, including the Vogtle nuclear power facilities, far exceeded original budgets and imposed long-term financial burdens on ratepayers.

 

5. Five gigawatts, the equivalent of five nuclear power facilities—estimated at $100 billion total—are being advanced without a financial and environmental assessment, sufficient legislative oversight, public transparency, contrary to principles of fiscal responsibility and good governance.

 

6. Given the availability of faster-to-deploy, more flexible and affordable renewable energy, efficiency and grid modernization alternatives, nuclear power facilities present major opportunity costs that can delay and undermine achievement of the CLCPA’s mandates.

 

7. The Climate Action Council’s 2022 Scoping Plan calls for a rigorous, comprehensive evaluation of nuclear power facilities, including its costs, safety, environmental and health impacts, waste disposal, and alternatives. Such an evaluation has not been done.

 

8. No comprehensive, independent, and publicly available financial, environmental, or health assessment of new nuclear power facilities in New York has been conducted, despite recommendations and evidence that such projects may impose major costs and risks to ratepayers and taxpayers.

 

9. Nuclear power facilities poses inherent safety and environmental risks, including potential catastrophic accidents, long-term radioactive waste with no permanent disposal solution, and significant public health concerns for surrounding communities.

 

10. Federal liability limits under the Price-Anderson Act expose New York residents and taxpayers to potentially enormous financial risks in the event of an accident at a nuclear power facility.

 

11. Long-term radioactive waste management presents unresolved and costly challenges, with existing waste in New York already requiring perpetual storage and significant ongoing expense.

 

12. Scientific research indicates potential adverse health impacts for communities located near nuclear facilities, including increased cancer mortality and radioactive contamination of indoor dust and soil in homes near nuclear power facilities, warranting further public health and environmental investigation.

 

Therefore, the legislature of the State of New York adopts a two-year and six-month moratorium on funding, subsidies, tax credits, bonding authority, or other financial commitments for new nuclear power facilities by state agencies, authorities, or commissions. A comprehensive, evidence-based assessment will be conducted during this time to analyze the expense, health, safety, security, opportunity costs, community impact and environmental impacts of nuclear power facilities, including but not limited to, mining and fuel production, construction, operation, nuclear waste long-term management, site and off-site remediation, and a comparison to alternative energy sources.

 

Section 2. Definitions.

1. "Nuclear Power Facility" means any electricity generating plant that uses nuclear fission or related nuclear technology to produce electricity.

2. "Subsidy" means any expenditure funded by ratepayers and taxpayers, including, but not limited to, a fee, surcharge, credit, or premium charge added to customer bills or any state expenditure designed to plan, promote, underwrite, construct or increase the revenue of a nuclear power facility.

 

Section 3. Prohibition of Subsidies.

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for a period commencing on the effective date of this section and ending thirty months thereafter no state agency, commission, department, authority or entity shall approve, implement, or authorize any program that provides financial assistance, including but not limited to zero-emission credits (ZECs), clean energy standard credits, bond proceeds, ratepayer-funded surcharges or subsidies, or taxpayer-funded appropriations, to plan, promote, underwrite, construct any new nuclear power facility or related entity. Funding for existing planning, promotion, underwriting, construction or any state-funded activity on new nuclear power facilities shall be placed on hold for thirty months from the effective date of this section.  

 

Section 4. Prohibition of Renewable Energy Funds for Nuclear Projects

No funds dedicated to supporting renewable energy projects, energy efficiency programs, climate mitigation, or grid modernization shall be diverted to support the new or continued planning, promotion, construction, or operation of new nuclear power facilities.

 

Section 5. Establishment of a Nuclear Assessment Task Force 

1. There is hereby created a Nuclear Assessment Task Force. The task force shall include individuals drawn from the following disciplines: grid modernization, renewable energy, the environmental sciences, security, toxicology, medicine (especially pediatrics), public health, and economics, and shall include, at a minimum, six representatives from non-profit environmental organizations and community organizations impacted by nuclear power facilities, and three Tribal Nation representatives impacted by nuclear power facilities. No person may be so designated who retains or holds any past or current relation to or financial interest in an electric utility corporation or nuclear power corporation. Each member shall receive the sum of four hundred dollars for each day in which he or she is engaged in the performance of his or her duties herein. Every member shall be entitled to receive reimbursement for the actual and necessary expenses incurred by him or her in the performance of such duties.

 

2. Such members shall be appointed as follows: six members shall be appointed by the temporary president of the senate; six members shall be appointed by the speaker of the assembly; and two members shall be appointed by the Office of the New York State Comptroller; and one member shall be appointed by the Attorney General. Each member of the Task Force shall have demonstrated expertise in at least one of the areas listed.

 

3. The task force shall meet at least every two months at the call of the chair, who shall be elected by the members of the task force. Meetings may be held via teleconference. Special meetings may be called by the chair at the request of a majority of the members of the task force.

 

4. The task force shall have the authority to engage such consultants, engineers, scientists, economists, doctors, non-profit organizations, and universities as the task force may determine is necessary to carry out the duties and responsibilities of this chapter.

 

5. The task force or its selected contractors shall:

a. Examine, evaluate and assess the potential cost of constructing new nuclear power facilities in the state, taking into consideration recent nuclear power projects undertaken elsewhere in the country, and the financial impact of such construction on ratepayers and taxpayers in the state, particularly the likelihood of significant utility rate increases. Such examination, evaluation and assessment shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

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(i) quantitative and qualitative analysis and modeling of the financial costs to ratepayers and taxpayers over sixty years, or the evidence-based projected life of nuclear power facilities, including small modular reactors;

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(ii) comparison of past cost estimates and actual costs of building both existing nuclear power facilities and cancelled nuclear power facilities in the U.S. and elsewhere;

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(iii) cost of each of the existing nuclear power facilities’ radioactive waste in the state and the estimated cost of new nuclear power facilities for on-site storage to isolate such waste from the environment for its “hazardous life” which shall be defined as twenty times the half-life of the radioactive substances in such waste;

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(iv) total cost of all past and any ongoing taxpayer and ratepayer subsidies (such as loans, grants and tax write-offs or credits) for existing nuclear power facilities in the state, and the estimated projected costs of any such subsidies for new nuclear power facilities;

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(v) estimated cost of decommissioning each of the existing nuclear power facilities in the state and an analysis as to whether current decommissioning trust funds will adequately cover such costs;

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(vi) estimated cost of fully remediating radioactive and toxic contamination at each of the existing nuclear power facility sites in accordance with the soil cleanup objective criteria pursuant to § 27-1415 of the environmental conservation law;

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(vii) and if such sites are not fully remediated, the estimated cost of the loss of use of land in perpetuity for each reactor site and the negative impacts from such loss regionally on economic development, agriculture, tourism, real estate and fisheries, any negative impacts to the ecosystem of neighboring states;

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(viii) the cost of emergency, resilience and protection programs from extreme weather events, including flooding, at each of the existing reactor sites over 1,000 years, and such costs for nuclear power facility sites for the same time period;

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(ix)  socio-economic costs incurred by conditions, incidents or accidents, including repairs, loss of jobs, health care, and relocation, at existing and proposed nuclear power facilities;

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(x) the potential liability and cost to the state from a range of different plausible worst-case accidents, especially given design inadequacies, aging existing nuclear power facilities, escalating extreme weather conditions, liability caps and possible legal action related to harmful exposure to radioactive releases from nuclear power facilities;

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(xi) evaluating the appropriateness from a fiscal, environmental and energy policy perspective of nuclear power facilities being considered a low-carbon or zero emission technology, taking into account the full life cycle of nuclear power facilities; and

(xii) the potential liability and cost to the state for remediation of any nuclear and toxic contamination due to incomplete site remediation at the existing nuclear power facilities.

 

b. Examine, evaluate and assess the human health impacts of constructing and operating new nuclear power facilities in the state, including the mining of raw nuclear materials and the impact of such mining on local populations near mining sites; the potential exposure of residents living in proximity to nuclear facilities to known carcinogenic, radioactive and toxic materials; the risk of human exposure to nuclear waste materials, including the risks associated with transporting such waste to remote locations; the risks of releasing radioactive water into local water sources which may be used by other communities as a source of drinking water; and the risks of explosions, meltdowns, unintentional releases, and other accidents on local and remote populations.

 

c. Examine, evaluate and assess the environmental impacts of operating new nuclear power facilities in the state, particularly the potential impacts on ecosystems, including habitat destruction, soil, ground water, surface water and air contamination from radioactive and toxic chemical emissions and releases, thermal pollution, impingement and entrainment, and food web contamination.

 

d. Examine, evaluate and assess the realistic time frame for the construction of new nuclear power facilities, taking into consideration the time required to construct new nuclear power facilities recently completed elsewhere in the country.

 

e. Examine, evaluate and assess the security risks of nuclear power facilities, including but not limited to the impact of weakened federal regulations, climate-related weather events, and potential terrorist attacks using advanced technology.

 

f. Examine, evaluate and assess the cost, environmental and health impacts of alternative renewable energy sources and energy efficiencies, including solar and wind power, geothermal energy and heat pumps, storage and other energy-related measures that are affordable and environmentally beneficial.

 

g. Examine, evaluate and assess the legal and liability risks to the state from any pursuit of nuclear power facilities, including but not limited to the new york state energy research and development authority, public service commission, new york public authority and economic development agency.

 

Such analysis shall include the following:

(i) whether it is the role of state government to promote and invest in nuclear power facilities;

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(ii) whether state law or the state constitution sanctions such promotion and investment or designates this role to private industry;

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(iii) whether the state’s past promotion and pursuit of nuclear power facilities resulted in negative environmental, public health, equity and economic impacts;

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(iv) how the state’s pursuit of nuclear power facilities could undermine the state’s legal requirement to transition to safe affordable renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy storage to meet the goals of the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act;

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(v) the appropriateness from an environmental and energy policy perspective of nuclear power facilities being considered a low-carbon technology, taking into account the full life cycle of nuclear power facilities, routine and accidental release of radioactive substances, and impact on communities, including Tribal nations;

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(vi) whether the state’s pursuit and/or investment in nuclear power facilities creates an unacceptable liability risk, and whether it could create a burden that reduces the government’s ability to respond to vital needs of the citizens of the state and unfairly transfers costs and hazards to future generations.

 

6. The task force shall create an environmental justice subcommittee of not less than five of its members to examine, evaluate and assess any and all environmental justice issues that may be related to the construction of new nuclear power facilities, including issues relating to mining for uranium, the placement of potential nuclear power facilities in or near low income areas, the potential impact to the ecosystem, and the impact of exposure to radioactive and toxic emissions on local populations including any disproportionate impacts based on gender, age or ethnicity.

 

Section 6. Task Force Procedures

7. The task force may, as it deems appropriate, request that studies and analyses relating to the task force's powers and duties, be performed by any state department, commission, agency or public authority. All state departments, commissions, agencies or public authorities shall provide information and advice in a timely manner and otherwise assist the task force with its work.

 

8. Effective with the State's budget for fiscal 2027, sufficient appropriation shall be made for the task force to retain the services of such organizations, contractors, consultants, universities, non-profits and other entities as the task force may determine is necessary to fulfill the assessment obligations of this section.

 

9. The task force shall provide a draft report to the public, governor and the legislature of its findings, conclusions, recommendations and activities undertaken by the task force, not later than thirteen months after the effective date of this act. The task force shall hold public hearings around the state and allow for a minimum of 15 minutes for each person testifying, a question-and-answer discussion of at least one hour at each hearing, and a public comment period of at least one hundred and twenty days. A final report of its findings, conclusions, recommendations and activities shall be provided to the public, governor and the legislature, not later than thirty months after the effective date of this act and shall include any legislative proposals it deems necessary to implement its recommendations.

 

Section 7. Effective Date

This act shall take effect immediately.