Oyster Creek's Spent Fuel Is Now Out Of The Reactor: NRC Says

LACEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - All of the fuel has been removed from the Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant's reactor and is now stored in the spent fuel pool, an NRC spokesman said.

The fuel was been permanently removed as of Sept. 25, spokesman Neil R. Sheehan said.

NRC has also removed the nuclear plant's operating license, in the wake of the nuclear plant's closure last week.

When the Oyster Creek reactor is defueled, the area above the reactor is flooded up, as in a fuel transfer canal, Sheehan said.

"The fuel is then lifted out of the vessel by crane, moved through the canal and placed in metal racks at the bottom of the spent fuel pool," he said.

The spent fuel pool is about 40 feet deep. The water above the fuel provides radiation shielding.

"In order to keep the fuel properly cooled, the water in the pool is circulated through heat exchangers," he said. "Operators at the plant are able to monitor key pool parameters, including water level and temperatures, remotely."

The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission also plans to keep a resident inspector on the site for the next several months, Sheehan said.

"The inspector will be focusing on the site's safe transition from an operating reactor to one that is entering the decommissioning phase of its life cycle," he has said.

The NRC will continue to review decommissioning activities at the plant.
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"A key focus in the next several years will be on the transfer of spent nuclear fuel from the spent fuel pool to dry cask storage," Sheehan said.

Oyster Creek's operating license technically runs until April 9, 2019. But Exelon, the plant's owner, shocked many earlier this year when they announced plans to shut down in September. The plant has been a major taxpayer in the township for many years.

Oyster Creek was the oldest nuclear plant in the United States. It went online on Dec. 23, 1969.

Photo: Patricia A. Miller