Oyster Creek Licensing Decision To Be Made By July 1

LACEY, N.J. — Holtec International and Exelon announced in July that the former wants to purchase the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station from the latter. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said they expect to make a decision on the license transfer application by July 1, an NRC spokesman told Patch on Monday.

Oyster Creek shut down operations in September after 49 operating years. The NRC has kept a resident inspector on site since, said NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan.

Holtec and Exelon said the purchase will speed up the decades-long decommissioning of the oldest nuclear plant in the United States. Holtec will own all Oyster Creek properties, including the spent nuclear fuel, and will take over all of the plant's decommissioning and restoration activities.

The purchase is scheduled to take place in the third quarter of 2019, pending approval of the NRC and other federal agencies. The NRC identified no safety issues during regular inspections from January to March. Read more: Lacey's Oyster Creek Station Passes Quarterly Safety Inspection