Owner of nation's oldest nuke plant files $1.4B closing plan

The owner of the nation's oldest nuclear power plant says it will cost $1.4 billion and take 60 years to shut down a site due to close in October.

A subsidiary of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. recently filed its plan for the Oyster Creek plant. It will now be reviewed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which must give its approval.

If the plan is accepted, the plant shutdown and defueling would start Sept. 17 and finish Sept. 30. That would be followed by about 1.5 years of preparation for 55 years of dormancy, a time when spent fuel rods would be stored in wet pools for five years, then moved to dry storage and ultimately removed to a federally approved facility.

Oyster Creek is located in Lacey Township, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) east of Philadelphia.