Oyster Creek Generating Station Retires from Service
September 17 2018 - 1:10PM
Business Wire
Employees and community members gather to
celebrate the plant’s legacy of safe, reliable operation and
community service
For the past 49 years, Oyster Creek Generating Station has been
safely and reliably powering more than a half-million homes and
businesses with carbon-free energy. That legacy ended at noon today
when operators took the Oyster Creek reactor offline for the final
time.
The oldest operating commercial nuclear power facility in the
nation now enters a new chapter. Over the next few weeks, workers
will remove the reactor’s fuel supply and store it safely in the
station’s used fuel pool. After that, workers will begin prepping
the station for dismantlement and long-term decommissioning.
“Today we celebrate the proud legacy of Oyster Creek and the
thousands of employees who worked here and shared our commitment to
safety and operational excellence for almost 50 years,” said Site
Vice President Tim Moore. “Eventually these buildings will
disappear, but the station’s legacy of safe, reliable operations,
community involvement, and environmental stewardship will never
fade.”
Oyster Creek began commercial operation on Dec. 23, 1969 and has
since produced almost 200 million megawatt-hours of carbon-free
electricity, enough to power about 600,000 homes for nearly a
half-century with virtually no greenhouse gas emissions. Along the
way, it’s estimated that the station and its employees pumped more
than $3 billion into the local economy, including wages, taxes,
charitable contributions and local purchasing. Since 1969, Oyster
Creek has offset more than 140 million metric tons of carbon, the
equivalent of nearly 31 million cars. The station has been such a
landmark in the Lacey community that an atomic symbol is
memorialized in the town’s coat of arms.
In February 2018, Exelon Generation announced Oyster Creek would
permanently shut down this fall at the end of its current operating
cycle. Exelon Generation was required to close Oyster Creek no
later than December 2019 as part of an agreement with the State of
New Jersey.
“We salute Oyster Creek and its employees for the service and
goodwill they have provided to Lacey Township and the surrounding
communities for nearly a half-century,” said Lacey Township
Committeeman Gary Quinn. “Although we are sad to see this icon of
the community cease operations, we look forward to a continued
strong relationship with those at the facility as it enters into
decommissioning.”
“Oyster Creek has been a positive and enduring asset to our
community for many years,” said Tim Hearne, Executive Director and
Chief Executive Officer of the United Way of Monmouth and Ocean
Counties. “The station and its employees have had an indelible
impact on the charitable organizations serving our region and the
families they support.”
In July, Exelon Generation announced a conditional sale of
Oyster Creek to Holtec International, a global leader in used
nuclear fuel management technologies. The transaction is expected
to close in 2019, pending license transfer approval from the NRC.
Once the sale is completed, Holtec International will manage all
site decommissioning and restoration activities with a goal of full
decommissioning within eight years.
About 300 of Oyster Creek’s employees will be staying at Oyster
Creek for decommissioning with Exelon Generation and, ultimately,
Holtec. Other employees are moving to other roles within the Exelon
family of companies, while some have elected to retire or move on
to other opportunities outside the company.
Exelon Generation, a subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE:
EXC), is one of the largest, most efficient clean energy producers
in the U.S., with a generating capacity of more than 32,700
megawatts. Exelon Generation operates the largest U.S. fleet of
carbon-free nuclear plants with 20,300 megawatts of capacity from
23 reactors at 14 facilities in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New
York and Pennsylvania. Exelon Generation also operates a diverse
mix of wind, solar, landfill gas, hydroelectric, natural gas and
oil facilities in 17 states with more than 12,400 megawatts. Exelon
Generation has an industry-leading safety record and is an active
partner and economic engine in the communities it serves by
providing jobs, charitable contributions and tax payments that help
towns and regions grow. Follow Exelon Generation on Twitter
@ExelonGen, view the Exelon Generation YouTube channel, and visit
http://www.exeloncorp.com/companies/exelon-generation.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20180917005596/en/
Oyster Creek Generating StationSuzanne
D’Ambrosio609.971.2185suzanne.dambrosio@exeloncorp.com
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