Oyster Creek nuclear power plant. (Photo: Holtec International)
Holtec International has submitted a license termination plan (LTP) for Oyster Creek nuclear power plant to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, a milestone in the decommissioning of the boiling water reactor, which operated from 1969 to 2018. Holtec took over Oyster Creek’s license from Exelon Generation in 2019 for the immediate decommissioning of the plant, located in Forked River, N.J.
Before a power reactor can terminate its license, the NRC requires that an LTP be submitted at least two years before the proposed license termination date. According to Holtec’s LTP, which was submitted to the NRC in August 2024, the company intends to complete the decommissioning of Oyster Creek and conduct final status surveys (FSSs) for release of the site by 2029.
Comment opportunity: As published in the August 15 Federal Register, the NRC is requesting public comments on the Oyster Creek LTP, with a deadline of October 14 for submissions. The NRC encourages the submission of comments through the federal rulemaking website using Docket ID NRC-2025-0907.
In addition, as required by regulations, the NRC is holding a public meeting on the LTP to “promote full understanding of the requested action and to facilitate public comment.”
The public meeting will be held on Wednesday, September 17, at the Lacey Township Municipal Building Court Room, at 818 Lacey Road in Forked River, N.J., from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. (EDT).
The public meeting can also be attended via an online webinar or by phone. Meeting information will be available on the NRC’s Public Meeting Schedule website. A meeting agenda will be posted no later than 10 days prior to the meeting.
LTP contents: The Oyster Creek LTP provides supporting information on the following areas:
- A site characterization to ensure that FSSs cover all areas where contamination existed, remains, or has the potential to exist or remain.
- Identification of remaining dismantlement activities.
- Plans for site remediation.
- A description of the FSS plan to confirm that Oyster Creek will meet the release criteria in 10 CFR Part 20.
- Dose-modeling scenarios that ensure compliance with the radiological criteria for license termination.
- An estimate of the remaining site-specific decommissioning costs.
- A supplement to the plant’s decommissioning safety analysis report and final generic environmental impact statement describing any new information or significant environmental change associated with proposed license termination activities.
