South Jersey nuclear reactor shut down
LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK TWP. — The Salem 1 nuclear reactor has been taken off-line for a refueling outage that will include $17 million in capital upgrades, officials say.
The plant stopped sending out electricity over the regional power grid around 8 p.m. Thursday, according to Joe Delmar, spokesman for Salem 1’s operator, PSEG Nuclear.
During the outage PSEG Nuclear employees and an additional 1,100 outside contractors will perform 22,000 tasks at the plant.
“The work we perform this outage will further improve equipment reliability and our ability to provide safe, clean energy to New Jersey and the surrounding area,” Delmar said Friday.
In addition to replacing one third of the reactor core with new fuel, major work includes main power transformer inspections, steam generator maintenance, replacement and upgrading of a reactor coolant pump seal and other tasks.
According to Delmar, the outage will also have a significant economic impact on Salem County and the South Jersey community with the contractors working on the outage patronizing restaurants, hotels and other businesses during the outage.
