Released September 18, 2018 | SUGAR LAND
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Officials with Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC) (Chicago, Illinois) and members of the news media held a retirement party of sorts on Monday to mark the permanent shutdown of the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Plant in Forked River, New Jersey. Located about 60 miles east of Philadelphia, the 615-megawatt (MW) power generating station came online in December, 1969, making it the oldest commercially operated nuclear power plant in the U.S., according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
Exelon said in February the plant was becoming too expensive to operate amid low wholesale power prices. Many nuclear power stations are struggling with operating costs and competition with low-cost natural gas-fired power.
The shutdown comes 14 months earlier than what was required under an agreement with New Jersey environmental regulators. For more information, see March 19, 2018, article - Industry Observers Ask, 'Which Other Nuclear Plants Could Close Prematurely?' .
Oyster Creek's initial 40-year license expired in 2009, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted it a 20-year license renewal, according to the EIA. But in 2010, Exelon and New Jersey environmental regulators reached an agreement to retire the plant in 2019 over water quality concerns. The agreement allowed Exelon to avoid having to install an $800 million water cooling system.
Forked River is an unincorporated community located in located in Lacey Township. The closure of Oyster Creek could leave Lacey Township's municipal government with a financial headache. About a third of Lacey's $31 million annual municipal budget is funded by energy tax receipts, which the municipality receives from hosting the plant and its transmission lines, according to the Asbury Park Press.
Oyster Creek will be the sixth nuclear power plant to retire in the past five years. After Oyster Creek's retirement, the U.S. will have 98 operating nuclear reactors at 59 plants, according to the EIA. Twelve of these reactors, with a combined capacity of 11.7 gigawatts, are scheduled to retire within the next seven years. For more information on nuclear power plant closures, see July 31, 2018, article - Early Closure of Duane Arnold Plant Reignites Nuclear Question: Where is the Bottom?
The closed plant will undergo an accelerated decommissioning process if all goes as planned. The typical decommissioning period for a nuclear power plant is about 60 years, so parts of the Oyster Creek plant structure could remain in place until 2075, according to the EIA.
However, decommissioning for Oyster Creek could take as little as eight years under a plan announced this summer.
On July 31, Exelon said announced the conditional sale of the Oyster Creek Generating Station to Holtec International (Camden, New Jersey), a turnkey supplier of equipment and systems for the energy industry that deals in used nuclear fuel management technologies. Holtec would contract with Comprehensive Decommissioning International, LLC (CDI) (Camden), a joint venture formed this summer by Holtec and SNC-Lavalin Company (TSX:SNC) (Montreal, Quebec), to perform the decontamination and decommissioning of the facility. "With its experience and state-of-the-art technologies, CDI is well equipped to decommission Oyster Creek within eight years, more than 50 years ahead of the industry-allowed 60-year timeline," CDI said.
The transaction for the sale of Oyster Creek is expected to close in 2019, subject to approval by the NRC.
"With an aging nuclear power plant fleet and the rise of lower cost means of energy generation in the United States, decommissioning has become a rapid growth market with a forecast value exceeding $14 billion over the next 10 years," Holtec and SNC-Lavalin said in a joint press statement.
Holtec said it also has submitted a license application for a facility in New Mexico to accept nuclear fuel from all nuclear plants in the U.S. including Oyster Creek.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
Exelon said in February the plant was becoming too expensive to operate amid low wholesale power prices. Many nuclear power stations are struggling with operating costs and competition with low-cost natural gas-fired power.
The shutdown comes 14 months earlier than what was required under an agreement with New Jersey environmental regulators. For more information, see March 19, 2018, article - Industry Observers Ask, 'Which Other Nuclear Plants Could Close Prematurely?' .
Oyster Creek's initial 40-year license expired in 2009, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) granted it a 20-year license renewal, according to the EIA. But in 2010, Exelon and New Jersey environmental regulators reached an agreement to retire the plant in 2019 over water quality concerns. The agreement allowed Exelon to avoid having to install an $800 million water cooling system.
Forked River is an unincorporated community located in located in Lacey Township. The closure of Oyster Creek could leave Lacey Township's municipal government with a financial headache. About a third of Lacey's $31 million annual municipal budget is funded by energy tax receipts, which the municipality receives from hosting the plant and its transmission lines, according to the Asbury Park Press.
Oyster Creek will be the sixth nuclear power plant to retire in the past five years. After Oyster Creek's retirement, the U.S. will have 98 operating nuclear reactors at 59 plants, according to the EIA. Twelve of these reactors, with a combined capacity of 11.7 gigawatts, are scheduled to retire within the next seven years. For more information on nuclear power plant closures, see July 31, 2018, article - Early Closure of Duane Arnold Plant Reignites Nuclear Question: Where is the Bottom?
The closed plant will undergo an accelerated decommissioning process if all goes as planned. The typical decommissioning period for a nuclear power plant is about 60 years, so parts of the Oyster Creek plant structure could remain in place until 2075, according to the EIA.
However, decommissioning for Oyster Creek could take as little as eight years under a plan announced this summer.
On July 31, Exelon said announced the conditional sale of the Oyster Creek Generating Station to Holtec International (Camden, New Jersey), a turnkey supplier of equipment and systems for the energy industry that deals in used nuclear fuel management technologies. Holtec would contract with Comprehensive Decommissioning International, LLC (CDI) (Camden), a joint venture formed this summer by Holtec and SNC-Lavalin Company (TSX:SNC) (Montreal, Quebec), to perform the decontamination and decommissioning of the facility. "With its experience and state-of-the-art technologies, CDI is well equipped to decommission Oyster Creek within eight years, more than 50 years ahead of the industry-allowed 60-year timeline," CDI said.
The transaction for the sale of Oyster Creek is expected to close in 2019, subject to approval by the NRC.
"With an aging nuclear power plant fleet and the rise of lower cost means of energy generation in the United States, decommissioning has become a rapid growth market with a forecast value exceeding $14 billion over the next 10 years," Holtec and SNC-Lavalin said in a joint press statement.
Holtec said it also has submitted a license application for a facility in New Mexico to accept nuclear fuel from all nuclear plants in the U.S. including Oyster Creek.
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, six offices in North America and 12 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com.
