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Commission Leaning Towards Oyster Creek Renewal
By Bill McLaughlin
The process of deciding whether or not to extend the life of AmerGen's Oyster Creek Generating Station for 20 more years moved a step closer last week.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) deemed the reactor lining, which anti-nuclear critics claim is crumbling, will last for the life of the permit extension requested for the next two decades.
The NRC's final decision is expected January 22.
Officials at AmerGen wouldn't comment on the NRC decision other than to say they were happy about it. Oyster Creek spokeswoman Leslie Cifelli said that plant officials were continuing to work at supplying power for the area.
The plant is the oldest active nuclear power plant in America, built in 1969. A decision on whether to maintain operations at the site or deactivate the reactor follows almost three years of review by the federal agency.
One non-arguable fact is there would be a shortfall of power that currently supplies 600,000 Ocean County homes. Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch has claimed that Oyster Creek actually provides 0.33 percent of the power in this area and that figure is down from 0.5 percent.
Critics have recommended wind turbines and solar power but neither alternative has progressed much in the county over the four decades they both were offered as possible solutions.
The NRC has been diligent inspecting the operations at Oyster Creek, spending weeks overseeing the operations and reviewing every incident involved in the operation of the plant.
The NRC has held numerous public meetings on the matter and has given each problem serious consideration.
One obstacle holding up any final disposition of the application is a lawsuit filed by seven environmental and anti-nuclear groups. The reactor lining is a steel drywall surrounding the core of the reactor. Critics claim the drywall could collapse and discharge contaminants at any time. Disposition of that case may take years because the loser in the current case likely would fight on to an appeals level.
An amalgamation of like-minded protest groups have maintained that AmerGen has not been forthcoming about the results of tests on the liner conducted as far back as 1993. Even using Freedom of Information Act filings, critics claim plant officials have refused to share the results.
Long-time critic Edith Gbur said there was evidence offered that the liner was cracking 15 years ago and that any attempt to patch it was short-term solution at best.
Collapse of the liner, Gbur and others have charged, could cause radiation contamination in the area surrounding the plant.
There were also questions raised about the fuel pool and the amount of power the station actually generates. Gbur charged that the state Department of Environmental Protection and Governor Jon Corzine had asked for a review of the fuel pool, but were rebuffed by the NRC.
Two fish kills when the plant has gone off-line in the last two years, and another shutdown due to a blown condenser, have marred the plant's recent track record. The fish kills come in winter when the outflow water suddenly changes from warm to freezing cold, shocking the fish. These fish kills could be prevented with the installation of a cooling tower. However, the DEP has not yet ruled on whether it will force AmerGen to install the tower.
Company officials have said throughout the process that forcing a cooling tower on them would force them to close the plant.
In May 2006, plant Vice President Bud Swenson took four members of the NRC Region I inspection team through the plant step by step. Swenson said workers were fitting the plant for both long- and short-term programs, and that any problems that have cropped up were quickly addressed and fixed.
Since the plant is from a prior generation of reactors, the NRC maintains it has revamped its investigative team to ensure the review process is as exacting as possible.
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