Exelon (NYSE:EXC) reports that its Oyster Creek nuclear station in New Jersey automatically shut down Sunday, Nov. 20, at 3:42 a.m. due to a fault in the turbine control system.
Located on the non-nuclear side of the plant, the system monitors turbine conditions, including speed, Exelon said in a news release. Technicians are working to repair and test the system prior to returning the unit to service.
The plant responded as expected, safely and without incident. The Oyster Creek shutdown will not have an impact on electrical service to Exelon customers.
Oyster Creek is located about 60 miles east of Philadelphia in Ocean County, New Jersey. The plant produces 636 MW (net) at full power, enough electricity to supply 600,000 typical homes, the equivalent to all homes in Monmouth and Ocean counties combined.
Oyster Creek returned from a planned refueling and maintenance outage in October. 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 compliance purposes in order to continuing operating Oyster Creek beyond that point.
