 ALBANY, N.Y. AP With the push of a red button, one of the two operating nuclear reactors at the Indian Point Energy Center along the Hudson River north of New York City will shut down Thursday night as federal regulators consider the plant owners proposal to sell it to a company that plans to demolish it by the end of 2033 at a projected cost of 2.3 billion. The 1,020-megawatt Unit 2 reactor will close for good Thursday and 1,040-megawatt Unit 3 will close in April 2021 as part of a deal reached in January 2017 between Entergy Corp., the state of New York and the environmental group Riverkeeper. The Unit 1 reactor shut down in 1974, 12 years after the plant began operation in the Westchester County town of Buchanan. To cease energy production, control room operators will press a button that inserts equipment called control rods into the reactor adjacent to the nuclear fuel, Entergy spokesman Jerry Nappi said Tuesday. The control rods absorb neutrons, which stops the nuclear fission process. Staffing at the plant will be reduced from about 800 to 300 workers a month after Unit 3 shuts down next year, Nappi said. Over the last 45 years, thousands of dedicated professionals have operated Unit 2 at Indian Point, safely, securely and reliably, Chris Bakken, Entergys chief nuclear officer, said in a statement. We owe each of them our thanks for a job well done and for their commitment to the highest standards of professionalism. Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo had long sought the shutdown, saying the plant 24 miles north of Manhattan posed too great a risk to millions of people who live and work nearby. Riverkeeper noted Hudson River fish kills, soil and water contamination, recurrent emergency shutdowns and vulnerability to terrorist attacks. Entergy cited low natural gas prices and increased... 