On Wednesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission accepted Indian Point's relicensing application to keep the nuclear plant operating until 2035. According to the Journal News, the acceptance begins a 60-day period in which the public can request and participate in formal hearings on issues they want the federal government to address during the relicensing process.

The battle will ultimately lead to a decision on whether nuclear reactors will continue to produce electricity in the Lower Hudson Valley. Entergy Nuclear, the owner and operator of the plant, filed the application documents three months ago. Indian Point 2's license is set to expire Sept. 28, 2013, and Indian Point 3's on Dec. 12, 2015.

Neil Sheehan, a spokesman for NRC, noted that the agency has yet to decline any of the 48 relicensing applications it has accepted as the industry moves well into middle age, though some were kicked back to the operators for additional work or knocked out before they were accepted. "We ask many questions along the way, so that questions do get resolved during the process," Sheehan said of the 27- to 35-month review.

Yesterday, Gov. Eliot Spitzer said that he continues to seek ways to increase alternative and renewable methods of producing electricity so that Indian Point can be closed without losing the 2,000 megawatts of electricity that it produces. That amount is equivalent to the power needed by about 2 million homes.