Oyster Creek Holds Annual Community Information Night

Experts from the nuclear industry gathered at Oyster Creek Generating Station’s Education Center to inform the public on the operation of the nuclear plant at an annual Community Information Night.

The public had the opportunity to speak with experts from Oyster Creek, Exelon, and various organizations that the nuclear plant partners with.

“It’s our obligation to the community,” said Suzanne D’Ambrosio, Oyster Creek spokesperson of teaching the community about how the plant operates.

The event included representatives from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Ocean County Animal Response Team, Ocean County Vocational Technical School, and several departments from the plant.

The spent fuel department explained the process of storing pent fuel and described the dry cask storage as safe and robust.

Analyses reports are done on the casks, where they are dropped and locomotives are driven into them, said Christy Holtzapple, a Reactor Engineer. They were designed to withstand floods, earthquakes, and a plane flying into them, she said.

Director of Spent Fuel Decommissioning Adam Levin explained the process of decommissioning Oyster Creek, which will be retired in 2019.

It will take eight to ten years to move all the spent fuel to the pool and to drain and dry the systems in the plant, Levin said. Then Oyster Creek is required by the NRC to clean up any radioactive contamination left from operation, which will be completed between 2030 and 2035.

The plant will be completely decommissioned by the mid to late 2030’s, Levin said. The spent fuel will be stored on site until a national nuclear waste repository is developed.

“The spent fuel will be stored in sealed containers. There will be no radioactive releases into the environment from spent fuel,” Levin said.

The predictive maintenance department showed off their thermography tools, which are used to detect problems within the plant.

“”We’re looking to identify a failure before it occurs,” said Frank Ciufia of the maintenance optimization department.

Infrared thermography and ultrasonic technology is used to detect improper temperatures and sounds.

The ultrasonic technology is similar to what was used to capture Osama bin Laden, Ciufia explained. He said the Navy was able to use an ultrasonic device to detect sounds in the compound. Similarly, the maintenance department is able to detect irregular sounds.

The radiation, health, and industrial safety department displayed the protective gear that some of the workers wear for certain activities inside the plant.

Tony Farenga noted that the average person intakes 300 millirem of radiation a year. Just by eating a banana daily, a person intakes 2.6 millirem extra a year but if a person is living within 50 miles of a nuclear plant, they intake .009 millirem extra a year.

Oyster Creek has a survey station inside and outside of the plant as well as on the fence line to monitor radioactive elements, Farenga said.

If an area inside of the plant is exposed to radioactive elements, they isolate the area and decontamination can be as simple as mopping the floor, Farenga said.

Other Oyster Creek departments at Community Information Night included Exelon’s Environmental Department, Plant Improvements and Upgrades, and Emergency Preparedness.