Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant Closure Date Has Not Changed, Spokeswoman Says

LACEY TOWNSHIP, NJ - There are no new plans to close the Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant any earlier than its retirement target date of December 2019, an Exelon spokesman said.

"While we are ahead of schedule with decommissioning planning for Oyster Creek, we committed to operate the plant until December, 2019 and we will fulfill those commitments," spokesman Suzanne D'Ambrosio said. "We continue to work closely with state and local stakeholders to finalize the overall decommissioning plan."

Gov. Chris Christie visited Ocean County Wednesday to tout the state's new long-term plan to restore the health of Barnegat Bay.

Christie also said Wednesday that Oyster Creek's closure plan is "not only on track and on time, but a little bit ahead of schedule," according to a report in Newsworks.org. "And we are working to get as much of that done and completed before we leave office in January."

Both D'Ambrosio and federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokesman Neil Sheehan said the company has not indicated any plans to close the plant any earlier than December 2019.

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

Photo: Patricia A. Miller