N.J. Finds Fault With Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant's Plans

TRENTON, N.J. -- The Oyster Creek nuclear power plant's bid for a license renewal could be at risk if the plant does not find a way to kill fewer fish.

 

In an Aug. 19 letter to plant operator AmerGen, the state Department of Environmental Protection said the plant's plans in its renewal materials do not meet state coastal protection standards.

 

AmerGen needs a new license from the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to keep generating electricity past 2009. While the decision on the renewal belongs to the federal agency, power plants also must comply with state coastal protection rules.

 

AmerGen can either try to comply with the state's request to use less water from Barnegat Bay to cool the plant, restore 3,500 acres of wetlands to offset the damage it does to aquatic life, or appeal the state's ruling to U.S. Secretary of Commerce Carlos Gutierrez, state officials said.

 

While many nuclear power plants use tall cooling towers that recycle cooling water, Oyster Creek instead uses 1.4 billion gallons per day of water taken from Barnegat Bay.

 

In its renewal application, AmerGen used anecdotes rather than hard data about the plant's effect on water life, making it difficult for state officials to understand the environmental implications of the plant, Mark Mauriello, director of the DEP's land-use regulation program, wrote in the letter to AmerGen.