Exelon Open to Closing Oyster Creek Reactor Pre-2019

[bananas]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-14/exelon-open-to-closing-oyster-creek-reactor-pre-2019.html

Exelon Open to Closing Oyster Creek Reactor Pre-2019
By Julie Johnsson - 2012-11-14T01:31:32Z

Exelon Corp. (EXC), the largest U.S. nuclear plant operator, would consider closing its Oyster Creek station before the plant’s planned 2019 decommissioning, Chief Executive Officer Christopher Crane said.

Exelon would accelerate plans to close Oyster Creek in Forked River, New Jersey, if it faced unexpected new capital costs at a time when depressed power prices and cheap renewable energy are squeezing nuclear generation margins, Crane said in an interview yesterday.

Exelon already has deferred plans to boost capacity at its LaSalle nuclear station in northern Illinois and Limerick plant in Pennsylvania, saving $1.2 billion in the near-term, the chief executive said.

The Chicago-based company also plans to refuel its Clinton nuclear plant annually instead of every two years in a bid to boost profitability at the hardest-hit plant in Exelon’s 17- reactor system, he said.

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1. Thanks bananas, this is extremely interesting to me,

living in SE PA, not far from Limerick (and having been part of the attempt to keep it from being built in the first place). Also not that far from the nukes in NJ.

Man there are words there I never thought I'd see in the establishment media: "unexpected new capital costs at a time when depressed power prices and cheap renewable energy are squeezing nuclear generation margins..."

I've always thought that it would be the cost in the end that would do it in, but I long ago gave up.

[bananas]

2. I was pleasantly surprised to read this, too.

I was worried they'd try to keep these things running until they break.