Oyster Creek Remains Offline

The Oyster Creek Nuclear Power Plant in Lacey Township remains off-line, while crews work on a vital component used to cool down the reactor.

In the early hours of Saturday morning, workers were conducting turbine valve tests when there was an issue involving the control system. The reactor pressure was increasing. As per safety protocol, they shut the plant down. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is now working to monitor the situation.

At this point, officials are trying to determine what exactly went wrong and why the pressure was increasing.  NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan said "we have resident inspectors on site and they are looking into the matter. We will also hear from them on whether or not they think more inspections need to be done at the plant. That hasn't been determined yet."

Oyster Creek plant spokesperson Suzanne D'Ambrosio tells Townsquare Media News that "there was never a time that the public or the workers were at risk during the situation. We have things well under control right now and the maintenance work will continue until further notice."

There is no word on when the plant will be brought back online.