Press Releases
March 23, 2009
New Poll Finds Local Residents Support Oyster Creek
A majority of residents living within 10 miles of the Oyster Creek Generating Station in Lacey Township, NJ are in favor of renewing the nuclear power plant’s operating license, according to a poll released on Monday, March 23rd by the NJ Energy Coalition.
The poll, conducted by Hart Research Associates of Washington D.C., surveyed 301 registered voters living within a 10-mile radius of Oyster Creek. It found that 67 percent of those surveyed support the renewal of the facility’s operating license.
Additionally, 44 percent of respondents who were familiar with Oyster Creek have a positive impression of the plant and 22 percent have a negative impression. Three out of five people surveyed support the use of nuclear power in New Jersey.
“This poll definitively shows that a majority of the people who live and work near Oyster Creek recognize its benefit to their community and support its presence and continued operation,” said Dr. Edward H. Salmon, Chairman of the NJ Energy Coalition and former President of the NJ Board of Public Utilities.
Richard Mroz, Senior Advisor to the NJ Energy Coalition and former Chief Counsel to the Governor of New Jersey, added, “As the NRC review process enters its final stage, it is important to reiterate, as this poll does, that the majority of Oyster Creek’s neighbors, who are most affected by its operations, understand its economic importance in their community and are comfortable with the levels of safety and reliability that its operators provide.”
“The Oyster Creek Generating Station plays a major in role in maintaining the stability, reliability and affordability of our state’s energy supply,” added Dr. Salmon.
Other results of the poll found that: nearly half of the respondents feel that Oyster Creek’s overall impact on the area is generally positive; seven in ten respondents feel good about using nuclear power to provide energy to New Jersey because it is a cleaner form of energy than coal, oil or natural gas; and two-thirds of those surveyed agree that nuclear power plants are an affordable source of base-load power.
This is the second public survey poll released by the NJ Energy Coalition in fulfilling its mission to educate the public on the need to keep existing clean energy providers in operation and to promote the development of more affordable, clean and reliable sources of energy in New Jersey.
The first poll, conducted by Penn, Schoen & Berland Associates, was a statewide survey released in September 2007 that found New Jersey residents support the use of nuclear power in New Jersey by a two to one margin, and that they believe nuclear power operators have a track record of operating in a safe manner by a four to one margin.
The Oyster Creek Generating Station began operation in 1969 as the first large-scale commercial nuclear power plant in the United States. Its design is a single boiling water reactor and it produces 645 net megawatts (MW), enough electricity to power 600,000 American homes annually. Oyster Creek provides 8% of New Jersey’s electricity, employs over 700 people and contributes an estimated $129 million to the regional economy each year.
Oyster Creek’s current 40-year operating license expires at the end of 2009. Exelon Corporation, the Illinois-based owner of Oyster Creek, submitted an application in 2005 to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a 20-year extension of the facility’s operating license. The NRC review of the request is still ongoing.
The mission of the NJ Energy Coalition is to generate public support for the production of clean, reliable, affordable, American energy to meet New Jersey's growing energy needs. The Coalition seeks to achieve this goal through increasing the public's awareness of the need to keep existing clean energy providers operational and to promote and support the development of new affordable clean sources.
The Coalition's immediate focus is to generate public support for renewal of the operating license of Oyster Creek Generating Station. The Coalition will increase public awareness about the benefits of Oyster Creek and the important role nuclear power plays in meeting New Jersey's electricity needs.
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The mission of the NJ Energy Coalition is to generate public support for the production and delivery of affordable, clean, reliable, American energy to help meet New Jersey's growing energy needs. The Coalition seeks to achieve this goal through increasing the public's awareness of the need to keep existing clean energy providers operational, to develop new affordable clean sources of in-state generation and to maintain a suitable transmission and distribution infrastructure for delivering electricity to our citizens.
For more information, please contact:
Bob Marshall
Phone:856-308-3656
bmarshall@njenergycoalition.org