nuclear-news

Oyster Creek nuclear power facility deteriorating: urgent safety need to close it

EDITORIAL: Time isn’t on Oyster Creek’s side  AsburyPark January 29, 2015 To the surprise of no one, the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in Lacey continues to deteriorate and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission continues to document the decline of the oldest nuclear power plant in the country. The NRC released a report this week that indicated the plant, which came online in 1969 and is set to close in 2019, had rectified problems that led to four unplanned shutdowns, or scrams, in a 10-month period between October 2013 and July. Joint failures, metal fatigue and leaks were among the problems causing the shutdowns.

As expected, a spokesperson for power plant owner Exelon said the shutdowns never posed any risk to the safety of the plant, its employees or the public.

What the public should be hearing from Exelon are its specific plans for decommissioning the reactor, its timetable for doing so, and what it intends to do with the property once the plant is shut down. And the industry’s lapdog, the NRC, must come up with specific decommissioning requirements — many of the details are left to the plan operators — and address the questions surrounding the disposal of the spent fuel rods and making the sites suitable for other purposes……..

What is absolutely certain is that the dangers posed by Oyster Creek will not vanish in 2019. It will pose a continuing threat to the environment and public safety well into the future. The sooner that Oyster Creek is dismantled and its spent fuel rods can be safely moved out of overcrowded pools and into dry casks the better.

Oyster Creek has moved into its dotage, when breakdowns become the new normal. It is beyond the stage where duct tape and gauze bandage are going to fix it.

Exelon, the NRC and the state Department of Environmental Protection all need to be forthcoming about the timetables, tasks and costs ahead, and move with all deliberate speed to close Oyster Creek and keep us safe. It is ready for whatever the scrapheap of reactors looks like. Time is not on the side of safety. http://www.app.com/story/opinion/editorials/2015/01/29/editorial-time-oyster-creeks-side/22517265/

January 31, 2015 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | safety, USA