Albany, NY – Nuclear New York celebrates Governor Kathy Hochul’s unprecedented commitment to advanced nuclear energy as a cornerstone of New York’s clean energy future.
By setting a goal of five gigawatts of new nuclear, the Governor has embraced the strategic framework that positions New York to lead the nation in cost-effective, programmatic nuclear deployment.[1]
This announcement represents a fundamental evolution in New York’s approach to nuclear energy. Rather than viewing advanced nuclear as individual, standalone projects, the state is now pursuing the proven strategy that brought costs down dramatically in South Korea, France, and other successful nuclear programs: standardized, sequential deployment with committed orderbooks.[2],[3],[4]
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Orderbooks of 5-10 reactors enable 20-30% cost reductions through learning curve effects.
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Design standardization and elimination of rework account for approximately 65% of cost reduction potential from first-of-a-kind (FOAK) to nth-of-a-kind (NOAK) builds.
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Bulk procurement of major equipment enables 10-20% cost reductions through volume orders
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Construction workforce continuity between sequential builds delivers 20-30% productivity gains.
During the Economic Development breakout session of New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA)’s “Advanced Nuclear NY Summit” in September 2025, Nuclear New York’s Isuru Seneviratne recommended that New York commit to deploying a minimum of 5-10 advanced nuclear reactors of standardized designs by 2040, creating the orderbook certainty needed for supply chain development and workforce retention.[5] Furthermore, he emphasized that state government’s most critical role is creating the conditions for advanced nuclear development through:
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Industrial customer aggregation to create committed orderbooks for specific reactor designs
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Site preparation and infrastructure readiness to reduce project timelines and costs
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Financial risk mitigation through state guarantee programs and public-private partnerships
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Community engagement frameworks that ensure host communities benefit from long-term tax revenue and employment
This announcement fulfills a vision that Nuclear New York, working with labor partners through the Clean Energy Jobs Coalition, articulated in our 2022 policy brief, Bright Future — that half of New York’s electricity should come from firm clean generation sources.[6] That report emphasized that nuclear provides:
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25,000 jobs supported by New York’s three operating plants, contributing over $3 billion annually to the state economy
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The highest unionization rate and highest wages across all electricity generation sectors
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Concentrated, year-round employment that builds vibrant, healthy, and prosperous host communities
The policy shift is also responsive to the growing number of communities who recognize the benefits of and want to host nuclear power plants – eight are bidding to host reactors built by New York Power Authority.[7] The five-gigawatt commitment allows all communities who want nuclear to work together on technology selection, workforce development, and policy advocacy.
New York faces aggressive electricity demand growth due to the reshoring of manufacturing capacity and the drive towards electrification. There is also a pressing need to replace aging and dirty fossil fuel plants. Nuclear energy provides what renewables alone cannot: 24/7 baseload power that complements intermittent wind and solar while using the least land and materials of any clean energy source.
Governor Hochul stated,
“Our initiative to create a nuclear reliability backbone for New York will ensure safe, around-the-clock, emission-free power to help keep the lights on and rates down.” This follows her June 2025 statement “to power New York’s future, we need three things: reliability, affordability, and sustainability, and nuclear drives all three.”[8] Furthermore, NYSERDA’s “Zero by 2040 Technoeconomic Assessment” acknowledges how advanced nuclear can also serve many non-grid applications such as high-temperature heat.[9]
NYSERDA is developing a Master Plan for Responsible Advanced Nuclear Development, building on the Blueprint for Consideration released in 2024.[10] This comprehensive planning process, informed by extensive stakeholder engagement, will establish the frameworks for licensing, siting, workforce development, and supply chain growth.
New York is co-leading the Advanced Nuclear First Mover Initiative, a multistate consortium pursuing DOE funding and technology-sharing to build substantial nuclear orderbooks behind standardized reactor designs.
This collaboration with states across partisan lines demonstrates the bipartisan recognition that nuclear energy is essential to achieving climate goals while supporting economic competitiveness.
“This is the kind of strategic thinking about nuclear deployment that New York needs,” said Dietmar Detering, Chair of Nuclear New York. “By moving beyond one-off projects toward programmatic deployment with committed orderbooks, and working across state lines to share learning curve benefits, New York is positioning itself to lead the next generation of American nuclear deployment—just as we led the first.” Nuclear New York looks forward to continued engagement with NYPA, NYSERDA, industrial energy consumers, project developers, labor partners, and host communities to turn this vision into reality.
As NYSERDA President and CEO Doreen Harris emphasized at Nuclear New York’s Nuclear Symposium 2025, “working together, we are finding ourselves writing the future history of nuclear for ourselves, for our kids, for our colleagues and for the world. And the work you are doing is very much part of this timeline.”[11]
