"My name is Kayla Lennert, I represent the mothers of Chautauqua and Erie County today. Dunkirk in Chautauqua being the proposed location of the new nuclear reactor site. I am dismayed that this meeting isn’t taking place in Chautauqua County itself.

NY states on page 3 of their Nuclear energy draft that about 5,000 jobs exist directly because of these 4 nuclear plants. That means the proposed site at Dunkirk, at most, would create about 1,200 direct jobs. The price tag for an SMR has ballooned to over $21 Billion for Ontario, and could cost over $30 Billion, a cost directly passed on to the consumer through electricity rate increases.

It is stated that the new reactor will be operated by the (New York Power Authority) or NYPA and not a private company. The last two reactors operated by the NYPA were the Indian Point and Fitzpatrick. The Indian Point reactor was shut down in 2021 following radioactive leaks as well as a fire in 2015. Fitzpatrick was sold to a private company in 2000 following numerous problems in the 1990s including major safety violations and system component failures resulting in fines in 1992 and 1997 respectively; Fitzpatrick was listed on the NRC watchlist until its final sale. The residents and taxpayers of New York will be directly responsible for funding the permanent on-site nuclear waste storage as well as any potential decommissioning, which takes decades.

Further more, the paperwork states that the NRC and FEMA will provide federal oversight to the plant, this is worrisome considering there are $1 Billion in potential cuts to FEMA proposed at this time. New York explains their "priority...is all low income households." They compose, "47% of investments from NY state energy programs." These are my friends, neighbors and peers, these are the people who will be most at risk building, working in the plant, and living near it. In Erie County 30% of adults are functionally illiterate, with higher rates in Chautauqua County. Perhaps the most shocking of all is the admission on pages 11 and 17 of the NYS Nuclear draft about FOAK SMRs: “While emerging light water SMRs and non-water-cooled reactors could offer greater potential to load follow and provide select other grid services, regulatory and market changes would be needed to fully realize these capabilities.” (page 11)

This is clearly a soft-launch for a LWR or  “Light water reactor” on Lake Erie or even perhaps Lake Chautauqua if the DEC status is revoked. You come to the poor people of NYS, as Chautauqua county is one of the poorest in the state, with your hands out for this grandiose multi-billion dollar project. One that will align us with foreign governments to acquire the enriched Uranium necessary to supply this new proposed reactor. My comment is that New Yorkers don’t want this nuclear plant. We do not want to facilitate the State’s energy needs."

-September 3, 2025

 

After a long and arduous drive we made it to Buffalo yesterday September 3rd for the NYSERDA 2040 energy public hearing. The hearing took place at the Buffalo Erie County Public Library downtown. My children even got to attend as it was important to me that the future generations are recognized there at the conference. After paying a substantial amount for close parking to the library we made our way in to wait for our turn to speak. Security was tight and a metal detector was used which made everyone feel more comfortable. Afterall, it is a public venue where clashing ideas are expected. We played in the kids section of the library and read, "Abiyoyo".

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​The monster in the scene looked like a nuclear reactor to me, not harmless like when I was a child. With only a few small folks and their instruments there to help save everyone the book could not have felt more apropos. Everybody had a lot of fun in the kid's section.

When the time came for us to file into the auditorium some of the New York State representatives of the energy board were there already. The wonderful A/V crew were there testing the mics and setting up ASL, ready to translate for people that were hard of hearing as well. There was palpable energy in the room of trepidation, I heard whispers that Senator Borello decided last-minute to show. I had mentioned him in an email to PJ Wendel while inviting him to attend; I hope this helped in some small way.

We were some of the first members of the public in attendance. I had pre-registered luckily and I was greeted by the pleasant ladies at the front desk who, after some fumbling on their part, assigned me  a place card that said I was in Group D (turns out I was the only one in group D!). There was a small summary presentation by Carl Mas of NYS Energy Research Authority of the draft. I noticed that he refrained from using NY's chosen nomenclature of “Master Plan” that they used in their drafts. He also stated that New Yorkers have the lowest energy and transportation cost burdens in the nation, while failing to mention data from their own paper that states: “Across the State, low-income New Yorkers have the highest energy and transportation cost burden” (p. 9 of NYS Energy Plan summary). I’m not sure why one fact was more crucial than the other. The Chairman of NYSERDA Ms. Doreen Harris then gave a presentation following this to further elaborate on Mr. Mas' points. Mr. John B. King Jr. was not present at the front stage.

Following this, the present Senators were asked to speak. After an incredibly lively discussion from Senator Borello and Assemblyman Bologna, NYSERDA did cut off the speaker Assemblyman Bologna (District 144) and asked him to please refrain from continuing his comment. There was sharp criticism on the ban on natural gas in new builds and a great deal of ire for the draft. I noted that only one single elected official acknowledged the public (Assemblyman Sempolinksi) and not just the board. A great deal of catechisms, such as: "clean energy" and slogans such as: repeatedly yelling, "Goals aren't plans!" were used in place of actual discussion from some of the politicians.  NYSERDA stated firmly that the forum was for the public and not for the elected representatives.

Assemblyman Joe Sempolinksi  (District 148) of Cattaraugus County (formerly representing Chautauqua County) spoke with great candor on the lack of representation in the NYSERDA public hearing forum of the Southern Tier of New York as well as Cattaraugus County and Allegany County. We spoke afterward and I collected his information, he's got great ideas. Another elected official followed by speaking on the fact that the comment period for the public hearing should be extended out further by 90 days (in addition to the original date of October). It was quite noticeable that not a single representative of the New York State board of energy showed up to sit in their reserved rows at the front.

We heard from leaders in the field of energy production and battery storage in New York State such as Dan Brennan and the executive of Energy Mark as well as the executive of National Fuel. Many incredibly intelligent view points were heard with strong data in support of reinvigorating our existing energy infrastructure. I couldn’t believe the amount of grandparents there to speak on their fears for the future of their grandchildren. Many speakers emphasized New York State’s prior commitments to the CLCPA or the climate leadership and community protection act; set in 2019. They stated repeatedly they felt they are not being met. It was disheartening to hear how many people misunderstand and think nuclear energy is clean, or green, as it is a non-renewable energy that destroys the environment. At one point a pro-nuclear engineer repeatedly called it “Nu-cu-lar” energy in his comment. A professor in New York State, Colleen Culleton, graciously explained her feeling that the hearing was in fact unlawful as per her understanding of transparency laws. We heard from countless representatives of the Sierra Club both in Niagara and Erie County speaking on behalf of the Iroquois and Seneca nations.

I had the pleasure of hearing a comment from Diane D’Arrigo, a radioactive waste project director and Nuclear Information and Resource service representative. She did say to me after the presentation that she used to work with Paul Gunter from beyondnuclear.org but they lacked funding to continue their work. We both shared our viewpoint that we do not want further nuclear energy developed in New York State, though she and I particularly (almost uniquely) were singled out to cut our comments short as they were starkly anti-nuclear. I saw numerous other commentators take longer than us.

On the way out the door I was stopped by a man named Jeremy who said that my comment brought him to tears. I asked if he was serious and he said yes, he hadn't even known about the nuclear plans. I appreciated it, almost as much as the energy board's eye contact when I stated the literacy rates in our area, she truly heard me. We stayed until we gave our comment at just before 7:30 as it is a 2 hour drive home but the meeting ran until 8pm or so, last I checked they were on letter L. The kids all grumbling but happy. We gathered ourselves, shuffled out, grabbed some hamburgers for the drive and rode off into the sunset, hopefully into a nuclear-free future for Western New York. 

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Published September 4, 2025 at 10:22 am

Updated for error corrections and clarification Sept. 5, 2025 at 12:06 pm