While I personally support nuclear energy as part of the solution, I am keenly aware that the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone (CEZ) (currently 1600 square miles) if applied to either of the decommissioned reactors in South East New York State would constitute a crisis of epic proportion.

The CEZ applied to the Shoreham reactor would make most of Long Island uninhabitable and in the event of a disaster there would be no practical way to evacuate the bulk of Long Island. In fact this evacuation concern lead to the decommissioning of the plant.

The CEZ applied to the Indian Point reactors would potentially make New York City north of Upper Manhattan similarly uninhabitable with similar evacuation issues.

I think Indian Point particularly should not have been decommissioned and replacing it with natural gas was a mistake but I am also empathetic to the concerns others have around safety.