Salem Nuclear Power Plant

The Salem Nuclear Power Plant is a two-unit pressurized water reactor nuclear power plant located in Lower Alloways Creek Township, in Salem County, New Jersey, United States. It is owned by PSEG Nuclear LLC and Constellation Energy.

Salem Nuclear Power Plant
The entire PSEG nuclear complex as seen from the Delaware Bay.
Country	United States
Location	Lower Alloways Creek, Salem County, New Jersey
Coordinates	39°27′46″N 75°32′8″W
Status	Operational
Construction began	September 25, 1968 (1968-09-25)
Commission date	Unit 1: June 30, 1977 Unit 2: October 13, 1981
Construction cost	$4.283 billion (2007 USD)[1]
Owners	Constellation Energy (43%) PSEG (57%)
Operator	PSEG
Nuclear power station
Reactor type	PWR
Reactor supplier	Westinghouse
Cooling source	Delaware River
Thermal capacity	2 × 3459 MWth
Power generation
Units operational	1 × 1169 MW 1 × 1158 MW
Make and model	WH 4-loop (DRYAMB)
Nameplate capacity	2327 MW
Capacity factor	88.55% (2017) 70.50% (lifetime)
Annual net output	19,062 GWh (2021)
External links
Website	Salem Generating Station
Commons	Related media on Commons

In 2019, New Jersey began providing the state's nuclear plants Zero-Emission Certificates worth $300 million a year to keep them in service. The subsidy was ended in 2024, effective June 1, 2025, as the Inflation Reduction Act provides alternative tax credits to support clean energy.^[2]

Location

Salem shares an artificial island in the Delaware Bay with the Hope Creek Nuclear Power Plant.^[3]

Reactors

The reactors, both PWRs, were built by Westinghouse, and began commercial operation in 1977 (Unit 1) and 1981 (Unit 2). The two-unit plant has a capacity of 2,275 MWe. In 2009, PSEG applied for 20-year license renewals for both units, which were approved by the NRC in 2011.^[4][5] Unit 1 is now licensed to operate until August 13, 2036 and Unit 2 is licensed to operate until April 18, 2040.

Electricity Production

Generation (MWh) of Salem Nuclear Power Plant (Nuclear Only)^[6]

Year	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Annual (Total)
2001	1,628,101	1,476,038	1,636,734	898,461	956,394	1,555,773	1,635,714	1,640,717	1,340,729	1,216,108	1,572,067	1,648,210	17,205,046
2002	1,488,857	1,488,857	1,379,434	892,102	1,179,097	1,593,794	1,645,258	1,640,861	1,580,364	1,058,506	1,384,535	1,667,409	16,999,074
2003	--	1,491,748	1,499,538	1,544,442	1,645,766	1,602,610	1,578,978	1,562,350	1,167,010	958,594	810,053	1,653,057	15,514,146
2004	1,646,987	1,571,693	1,621,231	781,182	520,553	1,398,370	1,446,170	1,708,616	1,349,519	1,713,702	1,658,472	780,544	16,197,039
2005	1,735,382	1,573,110	1,741,799	875,865	1,387,424	1,648,504	1,704,117	1,676,623	1,632,572	1,144,062	1,495,383	1,729,597	18,344,438
2006	1,740,543	1,555,055	1,638,043	1,672,530	1,716,863	1,650,329	1,677,674	1,664,945	1,566,550	1,086,234	1,638,970	1,741,231	19,348,967
2007	1,742,364	1,572,703	1,569,646	936,155	1,392,982	1,593,517	1,698,054	1,647,440	1,639,591	1,718,133	1,686,017	1,631,592	18,828,194
2008	1,712,247	1,622,282	1,096,556	841,672	1,298,550	1,662,476	1,700,993	1,717,567	1,632,594	1,221,757	1,273,312	1,758,719	17,538,725
2009	1,773,789	1,595,891	1,681,961	1,701,558	1,733,739	1,672,693	1,726,023	1,716,463	1,673,182	1,231,232	1,375,976	1,766,821	19,649,328
2010	1,639,182	1,598,270	1,739,970	892,605	1,734,660	1,610,038	1,224,576	1,706,759	1,651,289	1,465,828	1,704,223	1,764,399	18,731,799
2011	1,766,487	1,595,472	1,699,347	885,545	1,419,677	1,545,819	1,493,822	1,700,565	1,453,030	1,467,788	1,047,417	1,758,277	17,833,246
2012	1,769,542	1,661,594	1,650,173	1,685,401	1,545,209	1,664,519	1,704,092	1,706,029	1,662,898	1,177,993	909,265	1,707,670	18,844,385
2013	1,763,960	1,594,976	1,761,823	1,231,680	938,582	1,677,435	1,711,099	1,651,564	1,674,978	1,738,730	1,698,788	1,764,607	19,208,222
2014	1,741,462	1,497,633	1,754,020	936,092	734,169	826,915	1,272,464	1,713,875	1,660,745	1,378,846	1,011,872	1,755,042	16,283,135
2015	1,756,614	1,546,196	1,362,166	1,652,963	1,732,355	1,665,366	1,690,924	1,584,137	1,661,112	1,470,197	794,652	1,676,947	18,593,629
2016	1,745,954	1,477,108	1,743,093	1,221,654	861,781	743,685	33,362	1,428,389	1,284,570	1,741,491	1,666,431	1,749,118	15,696,636
2017	1,752,226	1,558,083	1,686,867	1,227,730	874,729	1,649,555	1,692,972	1,704,628	1,592,457	1,169,309	1,325,320	1,741,290	17,975,166
2018	1,744,791	1,577,669	1,735,539	1,686,643	1,655,340	1,650,424	1,691,007	1,681,399	1,391,247	1,045,889	1,293,387	1,741,707	18,895,042
2019	1,713,154	1,541,262	1,559,671	1,050,539	849,412	1,118,327	1,687,304	1,591,030	1,651,381	1,725,138	1,680,788	1,742,256	17,910,262
2020	1,743,928	1,512,141	987,287	1,098,063	1,201,045	1,658,761	1,683,423	1,662,313	1,659,121	913,481	838,307	1,187,566	16,145,436
2021	1,752,658	1,583,539	1,746,500	1,692,936	1,733,797	1,655,602	1,691,582	1,692,328	1,583,540	879,156	1,309,930	1,740,433	19,062,001
2022	1,739,247	1,574,370	1,740,619	1,058,949	1,201,411	1,657,545	1,690,064	1,694,026	1,657,698	1,727,566	1,687,375	1,691,254	19,120,124
2023	1,752,270	1,577,844	1,667,278	893,520	1,734,382	1,667,146	1,697,885	1,703,433	1,609,279	1,013,927	1,328,114	1,751,973	18,397,051

Surrounding population

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.^[7]

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 miles (16 km) of Salem was 52,091, an increase of 54.1 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) was 5,482,329, an increase of 7.6 percent since 2000.

Cities within 50 miles:

• New Jersey
  • Camden (39mi/63km)
  • Vineland (27mi/44km)
• Delaware
  • Dover (Capital) (21mi/34km)
  • Wilmington (19mi/31km)

• Pennsylvania
  • Philadelphia (43mi/70km)^[8]

Safety issues

The New York Times has reported that in the 1990s the Salem reactors were shut down for two years because of maintenance problems.^[9] Consultants found several difficulties, including a leaky generator, unreliable controls on a reactor, and workers who feared that reporting problems would lead to retaliation. In 2004, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission took on additional oversight of the Salem plants and increased the monitoring of them.^[9]

An extensive investigation by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the subsequent review by hired consultants have found many minor problems, such as lack of routine maintenance and low morale among personnel, but declared the plant safe.^[10]

On August 22, 2013, the Salem nuclear plant was shut down after a leak of slightly radioactive water. The spill was confined to the plant's containment building, and regulators have said there is no risk to the public.^[11] The plant restarted on August 24, after having been shut down for less than 48 hours.^[12]

In May 2014 a scheduled refueling outage of Salem 2 was extended after broken bolts from a cooling pump were found in the reactor vessel. Westinghouse dispatched a team to inspect the pumps.^[13] The inspection revealed bolts in the bottom of the cooling pumps as well as the bottom of the reactor vessel. Unit 2 was returned to service on July 11, 2014.^[14]

Water use

The Salem Nuclear Power Plant, as photographed from Delaware Bay

Both reactors use Delaware Bay as a source of cooling water. Salem Units 1 and 2 have a water-intake building with a rotating screen to collect debris that is later washed off. Sometimes thick layers of grass clog the intakes and the reactors run at reduced power for weeks as a result.^[15][16] All of the waste heat produced in the steam cycle (about 2 gigawatts) is dumped into the bay. The resultant increase in water temperature is regulated to less than 1 °C in summer months, and to 2 °C the rest of the year. The large closed-cycle cooling tower on site is part of the neighboring Hope Creek plant and is not used by the Salem reactors.^[17]

See also

• New Jersey portal
• Energy portal
• Nuclear technology portal

• List of largest power stations in the United States

References

1. "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
2. Johnson, Tom (February 15, 2024). "BPU pulls plug on unpopular nuclear subsidy". NJ Spotlight News.
3. Special to Today's Sunbeam/PSEG Nuclear (5 February 2012). "NRC delays review of PSEG Nuclear permit application needed for any new reactor in Salem County". NJ.com. Retrieved 2012-02-08.
4. "PSEG seeks licence renewals for two plants". World Nuclear News. August 19, 2009. Retrieved 2009-08-18.
5. Gallo, Bill Jr. (July 1, 2011). "Nuclear Regulatory Commission grants 20-year operating license extensions for Salem 1 and 2 reactors in Lower Alloways Creek". Today's Sunbeam. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
6. "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-08.
7. "NRC: Emergency Planning Zones". United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
8. "Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors". NBC News. 2011-04-14. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
9. Creating the Nation's Largest Utility Company, New York Times, January 29, 2006.
10. Sullivan, John (October 11, 2004). "Problems cited at nuclear plant in South Jersey". New York Times.
11. "Salem County nuclear plant back in service after leak | 6abc Philadelphia | 6abc.com". 6abc Philadelphia. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
12. "Local". NBC10 Philadelphia. Retrieved 2024-08-16.
13. Bill Gallo (19 May 2014). "Broken bolt pieces found in pump, reactor vessel delay Salem 2 nuclear plant restart". South Jersey Times. Retrieved 21 May 2014.
14. "After 'trying time' with discovery of broken bolts, Salem 2 nuclear returns to service". 14 July 2014.
15. Wald, Matthew L. (May 1, 1994). "U.S. team finds errors at Salem Nuclear Plant". New York Times. Archives.
16. Jeff Montgomery (22 April 2011). "Delaware energy: Grasses force Salem plant shutdown". News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware: Gannett. DelawareOnline. Retrieved 23 April 2011.
17. FR Doc E7-20761

External links

• Official PSEG website
• DoE Page