Saturday, March 26, 2011
Oyster Creek nuclear power plant (photo: Exelon)
In the wake of Japan’s nuclear crisis, attention in the United States has turned to the Oyster Creek nuclear plant in New Jersey, home of the country’s oldest reactor.
Oyster Creek features a GE Mark I Boiling Water reactor which is identical to the one that lost power at Japan’s Fukushima plant following the earthquake and tsunami that knocked out its backup generators, causing the cooling system to fail.
In operation since December 1, 1969, the New Jersey plant has experienced corrosion of the liner in the carbon steel containment unit that’s supposed to keep radiation from escaping. Oyster Creek also has been responsible for radioactive tritium seeping into drinking water.
And it has nearly triple the amount of spent fuel rods that Fukushima has.
Although New Jersey is not at risk of experiencing earthquakes, it is vulnerable to hurricanes. Anti-nuclear activists say Oyster Creek could be affected by a storm surge that could knock out its generators, just like in Japan.
The plant’s owner, Exelon Corporation, disagrees, pointing out that it stands five miles from the coast and is 23 feet above sea level.
Worried about a possible terrorist attack, some anti-nuclear activists have asked for a prohibition on flights over Oyster Creek, such as the “no-fly zone” that has existed over Disneyland, Disney World and the Pantex nuclear weapon assembly facility near Amarillo, Texas.
The Oyster Creek plant is located in Lacey, New Jersey, about 55 miles east of Philadelphia.
After receiving another 20-year license from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on April 8, 2009, Exelon plans to operate Oyster Creek for only 10 more years, in order to avoid having to install new cooling towers…at a cost of $800 million.
On March 21, judges with the Third Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia sent a letter to the NRC asking if the events in Japan have given officials second thoughts about renewing Oyster Creek’s license.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Oldest US Nuclear Reactor: A 'Disaster' in Waiting? (Agence France-Presse)
U.S. Court Questions Oyster Creek Nuclear License after Japan Disaster (by MaryAnn Spoto, Newark Star-Ledger)
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