Politics & Government

Group Seeks Support from Ocean Freeholders For Oyster Creek Filters

Filters could save lives in a plant disaster, local groups say

The Ocean County freeholders Wednesday said they would look into a request for support by a local group seeking to compel the operators of the Oyster Creek Generating Station in Lacey to install radiation filters on vents at the plant.

The group Grandmothers, Mothers & More for Energy Safety, known as GRAMMES, is hoping the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission will reconsider a decision earlier this year where a five-member panel voted down a measure that would have compelled the plant's owner to install filters over top its venting system.

The filters were suggested in an NRC report outlining how to avoid contamination similar to that which occurred after the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan melted down following an earthquake in 2011.

Oyster Creek uses the same General Electric Mark 1 reactor as Fukushima.

"What happened at Fukushima was, the operators, when they saw what was happening, were very reluctant to open the vents because they didn't have filters on them," said Janet Tauro of Brick, representing the New Jersey Environmental Federation. "If they did, all of those gases would be released into their neighborhoods and to their families. And we saw what happened. The plant reactor exploded."

The NRC has since ruled that the vents must open automatically, but filters were not required.

The New Jersey Environmental Federation is currently going through a process that would force the NRC to reconsider its decision, prompting the call for support from the freeholder board.

"Over the last seven or eight years, we've had numerous discussions on this," said Freeholder Joseph Vicari, though the board has consistently found that it has "very little jurisdiction" over Oyster Creek.

Freeholder Deputy Director James F. Lacey suggested the group have discussions with Freeholder Director John P. Kelly on the issue. Kelly was absent from Wednesday's board meeting.

NRC staff has estimated the cost of the filters to be about $16 million, GRAMMES said in a statement. They are required to be installed at plants in Canada and most European countries.


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