'Low-Level' Radioactive Water Released At Oyster Creek Site

LACEY, NJ — About 24,000 gallons of "low-level" radioactive water was recently discharged from the former Oyster Creek nuclear plant site, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

The plant currently has about 800,000 to 850,000 of water with low levels of radioactivity in storage, NRC spokesman Neil Sheehan told Patch. Most of it is stored in the reactor cavity, an equipment pit and the spent fuel pool, he said.

Holtec International, the company that owns and operates Oyster Creek now as it decommissions, is in charge of these "batch" releases, that follow the filtering, treatment and testing of the water for radioactive constituents, Sheehan said.

The most recent discharge was on Sept. 7 and took about two days, he said, and Holtec told the NRC that there is no confirmed date for subsequent releases.

"Such releases are conducted slowly and gradually and must be within NRC and EPA safety limits that are protective of the public," Sheehan said.

These discharges are common throughout a nuclear plant's operational life, and once they stop operating, there is still a certain amount of this "process" water, which is water that circulated through the reactor, was used for spent fuel pool cooling and shielding, among other things, that has to be disposed of, Sheehan said.

Owners must report all liquid and gaseous releases to the NRC, and also report on the Radiological Environmental Monitoring Program (REMP) for the plant, he said.

"The REMP is used, via sampling and other checks, to measure any effects on the environment from plant releases," Sheehan said.

However, the release of this water concerns environmentalists.

"The introduction of low-level radioactive wastewater no matter how well treated, but still radioactive will not sit well with those who treasure the bay; the fishers and boaters, swimmers, windsurfers, kite surfers, seafood lovers, and those who just enjoy a peaceful view," Janet Tauro, chairwoman of Clean Water Action New Jersey, wrote in a March 2022 column for NJ.com.

Tauro also told the Asbury Park Press that the public was not made aware of the release before it occurred.

Britta Forsberg, executive director of Save Barnegat Bay, voiced concerns to the APP about the impact on oysters, as volunteers had built oyster reefs at the mouth of the Forked River only days after the release.

"If I was putting myself in the water, doing all this work (building oyster reefs), I might want to ask some questions and know what's in there (the bay water)," Forsberg told the outlet.