Oyster Creek Passes Latest FEMA Emergency Drill

LACEY TOWNSHIP - The Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station and a number of county and municipal responders passed a recent emergency drill to test the ability to shut down during a radiological release, according to a report in The Sandpaper.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency reviewed the three-day drill held from Sept. 25 to Sept. 27 and approved the results, said Susan O'Neil of the FEMA Regional Assistance Committee.

Ocean County Office of Emergency Management officials along with 17 municipal offices of emergency management tested their ability to respond to a mock emergency at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station on Route 9 in Lacey Township.

The simulated drills are held twice a year to evaluate the response of nuclear plant workers and municipal, county and state agencies.

“The Ocean County Office of Emergency Management participates annually in drills that focus on the nuclear power plant,” Ocean County Sheriff Michael G. Mastronardy said. “This year’s exercise will be monitored and reviewed by FEMA. The federal agency will look at the actions taken by the participants and will review it for both efficiencies and any deficiencies they may find.”

Exelon, the plant's owner, recently asked the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission to significantly revise the plant's emergency plan a year after it closes in late 2019.

Exelon says the fuel in the plant's fuel in the spent fuel pool will have cooled enough to "significantly" reduce the risk of a fire in the pool that could release radioactivity into the environment, NRC spokesman Neil R. Sheehan said.

The changes Exelon is asking the NRC for include:
- Ending the 10-mile emergency planning zone around Oyster Creek.

- Eliminating emergency sirens in the emergency planning zone.

- Eliminating the need for full-scale emergency exercises, which are currently conducted every two years.

- A large reduction in emergency response staff
- Ending the dissemination of emergency plan information to the public
- Ending the need for multiple emergency response facilities

If the NRC approves the request, the changes would take place in January of 2021, 12 months after the plant closes, according to an earlier Patch report.

“We will need to thoroughly review the analysis and determine if the company’s assessment of the risks is accurate,” Sheehan said.

Each nuclear plant has a different lifespan, providing distinctive quantities of fuel in the pool, he said.

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

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Photo: Patricia A. Miller