NRC vote guarantees Oyster Creek license renewal

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given the oldest nuclear plant in the country another 20 years of life.

Commission members voted 3-1 at the NRC headquarters in Rockville, Md., on April 1 to dismiss a contention filed by a coalition of citizens and environmental groups that oppose the relicensing of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station off Route 9 in Lacey Township, NRC spokesman Neil R. Sheehan said.

The dismissal paves the way for the plant’s relicensing next week, when its license expires April 9, Sheehan said.

“The likelihood is that there will be a renewal license issued by April 9,” he said. “This was the remaining step as far as the hearing process. Now that that has been concluded, the staff is working on preparing a renewal license.”

The coalition, dubbed Stop the Relicensing of Oyster Creek [STROC], includes the Nuclear Information and Resource Service; the Jersey Shore Nuclear Watch Inc.; Grandmothers, Mothers and More for Energy Safety; New Jersey Public Interest Research Group; New Jersey Sierra Club; and the New Jersey Environmental Federation.

The coalition’s contention dealt with the integrity of the thickness of the nuclear plant’s drywell liner, the frequency of ultrasonic tests in the drywell’s sand bed region and its future conversion rate.

Citizens group also cited concerns about the 40-year-old plant’s age, the reactor’s spent fuel pool, the plant as a target for terrorists, and evacuation problems in the event of a plant disaster.

“It’s the oldest nuclear plant in the United States,” said A. Gregory Auriemma, chairman of the Ocean County chapter of the New Jersey Sierra Club. “It has one of the worst safety records in the United States.”

The spent fuel rods stored in the reactor building are a “ripe” target for terrorists, he said. “If you put it all together, it’s a witches’ brew for disaster,” Auriemmma said.