The Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant, a brief background and personal story.

I have a feeling like we're going to talk a lot about nuclear power plants in many of our class sessions, (and I know I didn't have to post about it, but…) I just wanted to put up some simplified information about nuclear power plants in general, and elaborate a bit on the nuclear power plant on long island I mentioned last week. My grandfather told me all kinds of stories about the plant when I was growing up, so naturally I was intrigued and I've done a lot of research in my time. I hope you all find it as interesting as I have!

The splitting of an atomic nucleus into smaller fragments is called nuclear fission. Nuclear fission is the process that occurs in nuclear power plants. Energy that is given from nuclear power plants is often considered clean and efficient, however very dangerous. Nuclear meltdowns are not uncommon for plants and yield catastrophic results. Places to dispose radioactive waste material is also scarce. There are many sides to the installation of nuclear power plants, this leading to much needed debate before one is constructed and put to use.

The construction of the Shoreham Nuclear Power Plant was announced to the public on April 25, 1965 by LILCO. Shoreham would be a 500 MW nuclear power plant that was being pushed as a cheap, safe, and reliable form of energy. Power companies were pressured by AEC to convert to nuclear energy due to the high demand for electricity on Long Island, NY and the possible efficiency of nuclear power. The plans to build the plant were delayed when it was decided that this plant would produce now an 820 MW as compared to the original 500 MW which increased the cost of construction by about $150 million dollars. The construction of Shoreham began in 1973, allowing just enough time for my Grandfather to be put on the job to help build it being employed by LILCO after his time in the Navy. My Grandfather was beside himself when current events continued to show nuclear power plant related tragedies around the world such as Three Mile Island, and Chernobyl. He couldn’t believe that after all the hours he put into creating this technological revolution, the government simply wasn’t going to allow it on the grounds of fear and negativity towards utilizing nuclear energy created by the media.

On May 19, 1989 LILCO agreed not to operate the plant in a deal with New York State under which most of the $6 billion cost of the unused plant was distributed to long island residents. In 1992, LIPA bought the power plant from LILCO. The decommissioning of the plant would begin under their control. By 1990 my Grandfather was working for LIPA, then four years later in 1994, the plant was completely decommissioned, again with the help of my Grandfather! He was actually put on the team to deconstruct the plant simply because of his experience constructing it, and he wasn’t going to say no, it paid well and there was nothing he could do about it anyway. The decommissioning of the plant seemed like a great victory for the government, but in the long run, and for all the workers and long island residents today, it was a huge loss. During this entire legislative process, the beneficial outcome was never considered, most likely due to the increasingly negative media. After the Power plant was finished, it was pristine. It was the safest nuclear power plant the United States has ever seen on its soil due to all of the extra safety precautions added to it after each disaster. In theory, running the plant could have yielded a lot more good than bad... but we will never know. Could it have melted down? of course, that’s a risk every NPP takes, but could it have also still been providing cheap cleaner energy to LI residents? Yes, but that is just a question we will just have to keep asking.