The Exelon (NYSE:EXC) Oyster Creek nuclear plant in New Jersey, resumed full-power operations at 8:08 a.m. on Oct. 14, successfully completing a planned refueling and maintenance outage that began Sept. 19, the company said in a news release.
It’s the next-to-last refueling outage for the 636-MW boiling water reactor (BWR), which is scheduled to cease operations in 2019.
During the outage, Exelon employees and supplemental workers performed more than 4,000 maintenance activities and replaced nearly one-third of the reactor’s fuel to keep the unit running safely and efficiently for another two-year cycle, the company said in a news release.
Oyster Creek’s 600-person workforce was supplemented with more than 1,400 additional workers during the outage. “This strong team of 2,000 men and women worked together to ensure Oyster Creek produces power safely and reliably for our region,” said Site Vice President Garey Stathes.
Oyster Creek’s final refueling outage is scheduled for 2018. Oyster Creek will cease operations in 2019. Exelon would have to install expensive cooling towers for complaince purposes in order to continuing operating Oyster Creek beyond that point, a spokesperson confirmed.
Oyster Creek is located about 60 miles east of Philadelphia in Ocean County, New Jersey. The plant produces 636 MW of carbon-free electricity , enough electricity to supply 600,000 typical homes, the equivalent to all homes in Monmouth and Ocean counties combined, the company said.
