The Latest: New Jersey eyes wind energy after plant closes

The Latest on the New Jersey nuclear plant that shut down Monday. (all times local):

6:02 p.m.

New Jersey is looking to wind energy to replace some of the electric power it is losing now that the Oyster Creek nuclear power plant has shut down.

The state Board of Public Utilities agreed Monday to seek applications from companies interested in doing wind energy projects off the New jersey coast. The initial round of projects would total 1,100 megawatts, nearly twice the amount generated by Oyster Creek, which powered about 600,000 homes.

Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy eventually wants to have at least 3,500 megawatts of wind energy off the state's coast by 2030.

The decision came shortly after Oyster Creek ceased operations Monday in Lacey Township.

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5:31 p.m.

A nuclear plant long considered to be the oldest in America has shut down.

Officials at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey say the plant went offline at noon Monday. The plant was considered near the end of its useful life.

Oyster Creek and the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station near Oswego, New York, both went into operation in December 1969. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission had long listed both facilities as going online Dec. 1, 1969 — a date the agency acknowledged on Monday is incorrect.

Nine Mile Point says it went into commercial operation on Dec. 14, 1969; Oyster Creek says it did so on Dec. 23, 1969. The company says Oyster Creek's license was granted on April 10, 1969, about four months before Nine Mile Point's, according to a document from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, a precursor agency to the NRC.

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1:56 p.m.

America's oldest nuclear power plant has shut down.

Officials at the Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station in New Jersey say the plant went offline at noon Monday. The plant was considered near the end of its useful life.

Oyster Creek went online Dec. 1, 1969, the same day as the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station near Oswego, New York.

But Oyster Creek's original license was granted first, technically making it the oldest of the nation's commercial nuclear reactors still operating.

The plant in Lacey Township near the Jersey shore has dealt with corrosion and leaks during its time in service, but its owner, Chicago-based Exelon Corp., says the plant has always been safe.

There are now 98 nuclear power plants operating in the U.S. following Oyster Creek's closure.