Letter: Oyster Creek’s Critics are Spreading 'Unwarranted Fear' After Hurricane Sandy

To the Editor:

As New Jersey residents recover and rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, it’s an emotional time and many people are still suffering greatly. It’s downright shameful that local anti-nuclear activists are using New Jersey’s greatest disaster to spread unwarranted fear among those trying to heal. Nuclear critics have been very busy since the storm hit, using misinformation and bad science to bully public officials and scare local residents into believing that Oyster Creek Generating Station is a ticking time bomb that should be shut down. Aren’t these the same critics who called for Oyster Creek’s closure after 9/11 and Fukushima? Regardless, their recent claims are again unsubstantiated by facts.

Even before Sandy made landfall, they warned Oyster Creek would flood; service water pumps would fail; the reactor would melt and the plant’s spent fuel would expose the shore to a Fukushima-like disaster. As we know, none of these implausible events occurred. After the storm they changed tactics, claiming the station was “inches from a meltdown” and that deep cracks in the reactor should compel the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to shutter the facility immediately.  A subsequent special inspection by the NRC independently confirmed that none of those claims had any basis in fact.

By all the accounts I’ve seen from Exelon, the NRC and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Oyster Creek prepared well and stood strong during Sandy. It’s time for Oyster Creek’s critics to get their facts straight, separate science from supposition, and stop all the fear mongering to advance their anti-nuclear agenda.

Oyster Creek has been a clean, safe, reliable source of energy for almost 1 million New Jersey homes for nearly 43 years and Sandy was no match. Regardless of your personal opinion of nuclear power, you have to admit that’s a pretty good record.

Sincerely, 

Bob Marshall
Executive Director
New Jersey Energy Coalition