Prep for Oyster Creek SMR construction underway, Holtec says

Holtec International is getting the ball rolling on a construction permit to build one of its proposed advanced nuclear reactors at the site of a former New Jersey nuclear power plant as it aims to be among the first companies to deploy advanced nuclear technologies, the company said Tuesday in a press release. 

Holtec, which is eyeing Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station as a possible host for its SMR-160 small modular reactor (SMR), said in the release that some of the initial steps required for a construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission were “already underway.” Among those activities, staff at Oyster Creek are completing “site-specific plant layouts and environmental monitoring,” Holtec said.

The company is also considering other potential candidates for SMR deployment, including coal, greenfield and nuclear sites, the release said. Holtec is already working with at least one utility company, New Orleans-based Entergy, to explore the possibility of building advanced reactors at existing generation facilities.

The Forked River, N.J., Oyster Creek plant, which Holtec purchased from former operator Exelon in 2019, has been at the top of the company’s list of potential SMR-160 host sites. Holtec CEO Kris Singh told Exchange Monitor in April that the plant was the “number one” pick for an advanced reactor. The company is also considering Michigan’s Palisades and Big Rock Point plants, which it bought from Entergy in June, as SMR candidates.

Holtec’s prep work at Oyster Creek comes as the company in July submitted a roughly $7.4 billion loan application with the Department of Energy to support deployment of the SMR-160. If approved, that cash would be used to build a brand-new manufacturing complex and to increase production of reactor components at existing facilities, the company said at the time.

The SMR-160 is one of 10 advanced reactor projects getting support from the Department of Energy’s Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program. Holtec has said that its first advanced reactor could be operational by 2029 or so.