USA Federal regulators approve permit for new nuclear reactor in New Jersey

Permit for a new nuclear reactor in N.J. OK’d by feds, By Bill Gallo Jr. | For NJ.com 28 Apr 16, Federal regulators have OK’d a key permit that would be needed for the construction of a new nuclear reactor in New Jersey, officials said Thursday.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board, following numerous reviews, found that PSEG Nuclear met all safety and environmental requirements needed for the Early Site Permit.

That permit is not a green light for the utility to build a new reactor at its generating site at Artificial Island along the Delaware River in Lower Alloways Creek Township.

The permit will be good for 20 years. It does not, however, mean that PSEG Nuclear is ready to put a shovel into the ground. Many federal, state and local approvals would still be needed.

“This is an important final step to have the ESP issued,” said Joe Delmar, spokesman for PSEG Nuclear. “It provides us with a 20-year window to pursue a construction and operating license.” PSEG Nuclear has said during the application process that it was not ready to build another plant, but wanted to be prepared…..

The decision for the permit does not have to go before the full NRC board of commissioners.

This is only the fifth Early Site Permit ever issued by the NRC, according to Sheehan. In 2007 the agency enacted the rule that allowed utility companies to bank approval for a new plant until they, the utility, decided to build……

PSEG Nuclear currently operates three reactors —€” Salem 1, Salem 2 and Hope Creek. The plants, three of the four nuclear rectors now operating in New Jersey, comprise the second-largest nuclear generating complex in the U.S. Only the Palo Verde plant in the Arizona desert generates more power.

All three of the PSEG Nuclear reactors have been granted 20-year licenses extensions.

The utility has chosen a site north of its Hope Creek reactor on Artificial Island as the site where a new plant could be constructed. If another plant is built the utility has already said it would build a second access road to the Island from the mainland.

Depending on the size of the reactor, a new plant could cost upwards of $15 billion, according to some estimates. Any new reactor would also require the construction of a cooling tower to cut down on the amount of water drawn for cooling purposes from the Delaware River.

Currently, PSEG Nuclear’s Hope Creek plant has a cooling tower, but its Salem 1 and Salem 2 units do not. Those two reactors, when operating at full power, draw in and return to the Delaware River approximately three billion gallons of water a day.

Environmentalists oppose any plans for a new reactor at the Island.

“It’s unnecessary, not needed and there are real safety issues we are concerned about,’ Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, said Thursday.

He said the project would require the filling in of hundreds of acres of sensitive wetlands and because of its location where the Delaware River and Delaware Bay meet, any new plant would be vulnerable to storm surge and a rising sea level.

Tittel said the high cost of building a nuclear plant would likely be borne by ratepayers and there are cheaper sources of electricity. He pointed to renewable energy sources such as wind power are becoming less expensive as are gas-fired generating plants.

Aside from environmental and economic concerns, Tittel sees a safety threat……. Bill Gallo Jr. may be reached at bgallo@njadvancemedia.com. Follow Bill Gallo Jr. on Twitter @bgallojr. Find NJ.com on Facebook. http://www.nj.com/salem/index.ssf/2016/04/permit_for_a_new_nuclear_reactor_in_nj_okd_by_feds.html