 "Photo: File Photo")
Public Service Enterprise Group Nuclear is considering the construction of a fourth nuclear reactor at its Salem Generating Station on the Delaware River. The project would address the negative effects of energy production on the environment and would provide more power to the region, a PSEG spokesman said last week.
Skip Sindoni, a spokesman for PSEG Nuclear, said the stations at Salem and Hope Creek were created in the 1970s. They power three million homes throughout New Jersey, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
Nuclear power should be utilized more because it does not release greenhouse gases, Sindoni said.
"Ours is an environmentally-friendly operation," he said.
Jane Nogaki, a representative for the New Jersey Environmental Federation, said her organization is opposed to all nuclear facilities.
Nuclear power is not cleaner than fossil-fuel based energy, Nogaki said. The used fuel rods can remain radioactive for hundreds of years after their use and harm the environment.
Another concern is the uptake of water from the Delaware River used to cool the reactors, she said. Approximately 300 million fish are killed per year as a result of being sucked into the plant with the river water.
"The fish are cooked in the plant," Nogaki said.
In response, Sindoni said PSEG Nuclear participates in an estuary enhancement program that protects 32 square-miles of salt marsh to offset the effects of the plant on the environment and to ensure fish in the Delaware River have a safe habitat.
Norm Cohen, coordinator of UNPLUG Salem, a watchdog group that monitors the Salem plant, said PSEG Nuclear should deal with their current operating problems before building new reactors. He said the nuclear site has been rated one of the worst in the country and has been shut down numerous times in the past. He said if the old plants were shut down, there might be more support for new plants.
"If PSEG built new reactors in order to shut down the aging ones, they might have more support," Cohen said. "PSEG has a spotty record of running plants."
Sindoni said there are adequate safety precautions in place. The facility at Salem works with the surrounding states to execute a plan of action in case of an emergency.
"We're confident we can maintain safe operations here," he said.
Cohen said he is also in favor of extending the federal emergency planning zone from 10 miles to 20 miles. He said he feels the plant administration underestimates the potential scale of a disaster.
Residents within the expanded zone would be provided with iodine pills to prevent thyroid cancer, which can result from exposure to radiation.
Newark and Wilmington would be included in the proposed 20-mile danger zone, he said.
Current evacuation plans are not practical, Cohen said.
"There weren't many people living around the plant when it was built, and now there are," he said. "During an evacuation, roads would be clogged in New Jersey and in Delaware."
Cohen said other forms of energy should be investigated.
"We have a long way to go," he said. "We should be using solar, wind, hydrogen energy instead of nuclear."
Nogaki said nuclear plants are visible targets for possible terrorist attacks in populated areas including New Jersey and Wilmington.
"The hazard presents itself to the environment and to terrorism, and these are aspects of concern," she said.
Irshad Bajwa, a 17-year resident of Newark, said a new reactor would be acceptable if it was built away from the general population.
"It's a little scary living so close to a nuclear plant, but if the plant's safety is good, there should be no worry," Bajwa said.
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