Why Oyster Creek?
Oyster Creek Generating Station is a reliable source of affordable, clean electricity for New Jersey today, and in the future.
Affordable
- • Oyster Creek produces six percent of New Jersey's electricity with virtually no air emissions
- • More than 50 percent of New Jersey relies on nuclear energy. If Oyster Creek, or another nuclear energy source, were replaced by a non-nuclear source like a new gas plant, the cost for generating electricity could increase by up to 50 percent, potentially increasing energy costs for consumers.
- • Nuclear power has the lowest production cost of the major sources of electricity. Nuclear plants are the most efficient on the electricity grid and their costs are more predictable than many other energy sources.
- • Oyster Creek serves nearly 600,000 homes
Clean
- • Nuclear energy does not produce greenhouse gases because it does not burn anything to generate electricity. Nuclear energy plants produce no gases such as nitrogen oxide or sulfur dioxide that could threaten our atmosphere by causing ground-level ozone formation, smog, and acid rain. Nor does nuclear energy produce carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases suspected to cause global warming.
- • Each year it operates, Oyster Creek essentially avoids some 7.5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide that would be produced in coastal New Jersey by a replacement power plant.
Reliable
- • Oyster Creek operated at 88.3% capacity factor in 2004, 98.2% in 2005, and 84.8% in 2006
Strong Community Support
According to a 2006 public opinion poll, about 80 percent of the community supports Oyster Creek license renewal if the plant continues to meet Federal safety standards. This is an increase from a similar poll conducted in 2005.
For more information on benefits of Oyster Creek Generation Station visit http://www.oystercreeklr.com/index.html