Politics & Government

Oyster Creek Should Be Shut Down ASAP, Berkeley Mayor Says

Crisis at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex in Japan has heightened local awareness

Unless major improvements are made to the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station, the controversial plant in Lacey Township should be shut down as soon as possible, Berkeley Mayor Jason J. Varano said.

"The sooner that comes, the better," the mayor said. "The plant has reached its ending."

Varano said it's unlikely that Exelon, the plant's owner, would invest in major capital improvements.

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"That's not going to happen," he said.

Exelon officials announced last Dec. 8 that Oyster Creek would close in 2019, 10 years before its latest license is due to expire.

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Exelon President Chris Crane said then that "negative" economic conditions and changing environmental regulations were the reason for the earlier closure.

The state Department of Environmental Protection in January 2010 made the installation of cooling towers at the plant a condition of Oyster Creek's draft water discharge permit renewal. A closed-cycle cooling system would protect aquatic life in Barnegat Bay, reduce the amount of water the plant draws from the bay each day and lower the temperature of the water discharged into the canals, according to the DEP's website.

But Exelon is no longer required to install the cooling towers, since the plant is slated to close earlier than scheduled.

The Berkeley Township Council last year passed a resolution calling for the installation of cooling towers at the plant, rather than the current method of drawing water from the Barnegat Bay.

"It's an old plant," Varano said.  "The type of cooling system is antiquated and it needs to be changed."

"You have to address the issue," he added. "The plant has its problems. It's an outdated plant. It's similar to the plants in Japan."

Concern about the Oyster Creek plant has been heightened at both the state and local level since the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan several weeks ago. The events crippled several reactors in the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant complex.

Berkeley Township officials have been "at the forefront" of Ocean County municipalities calling for the plant's closure, dating all the way back to the years when the late Bill Zimmermann Jr. was mayor, Varano said.

Township officials also opposed the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision in April 2009 to allow the then-40-year-old plant to operate for another 20 years, he said.

Council Vice President Carmen F. Amato Jr. said the council would probably pass a resolution dealing with the plant at an upcoming meeting.

Officials of the Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch, including Berkeley resident Edith Gbur, are circulating petitions calling for the plant to close the "obsolete and hazardous" plant.

The petition is addressed to President Barack Obama, Gov. Chris Christie, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the DEP and Exelon's president.

"A major radiation release could threaten areas beyond the 10-mile zone and lack of access roads would make evacuation impossible," the petition states. "The fuel pool and dry casks containing deadly nuclear waste are vulnerable to an accident or terrorist attack. Every day the plant is open, it contributes to the stockpiling of hazardous, radioactive nuclear waste."

The petition also asks that Obama's $36 billion energy loan program be diverted to solar and wind power.

State DEP Commissioner Robert Martin announced last week that a task force would be created to conduct a thorough review of operations and emergency preparedness at the four nuclear plants located in New Jersey, in light of the crisis in Japan.

New Jersey is also seeking to join New York, Vermont and Connecticut in a legal challenge of the NRC's revised "waste confidence rule" that extends the time spent nuclear fuel can be stored on-site at a nuclear power plant from 30 t0 60 years after the plant shuts down operations.

Oyster Creek is the oldest nuclear plant in the United States. It went online on Dec. 23, 1969.


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