Forked River Nuclear Power Plant
Encyclopedia
The Forked River Nuclear Power Plant was a proposed nuclear power plant
in Lacey Township
in Ocean County
, New Jersey
. It was proposed as a single 1,070 MW reactor in 1969 to be built by Combustion Engineering
and operated by Jersey Central Power and Light. The facility would be located on a site between JCP&L's existing Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station
and the Garden State Parkway
. Unlike the Oyster Creek Plant, the Forked River Plant would have a cooling tower
to prevent the release of hot water into Oyster Creek
and Barnegat Bay
.
Construction of the plant was halted in 1974 due to financial cut-backs and environmental protests, but was resumed in 1976. The plant's construction was ultimately canceled in 1980, when General Public Utilities (the parent company of JCP&L) halted construction "because of financial difficulties stemming from the accident at its Three Mile Island facility
", as well as uncertainty over whether the NRC would grant a license or possibly institute other costly regulations. In addition, community fears and a construction accident that killed one worker helped end the plant's construction.
Nuclear power plant
A nuclear power plant is a thermal power station in which the heat source is one or more nuclear reactors. As in a conventional thermal power station the heat is used to generate steam which drives a steam turbine connected to a generator which produces electricity.Nuclear power plants are usually...
in Lacey Township
Lacey Township, New Jersey
Lacey Township is a Township in Ocean County, New Jersey and is considered part of the Jersey Shore region. As of the United States 2010 Census, the township population had increased to a record high of 27,644...
in Ocean County
Ocean County, New Jersey
-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 510,916 people, 200,402 households, and 137,876 families residing in the county. The population density was 803 people per square mile . There were 248,711 housing units at an average density of 151/km²...
, New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
. It was proposed as a single 1,070 MW reactor in 1969 to be built by Combustion Engineering
Combustion Engineering
Combustion Engineering was an American engineering firm and leading firm in the development of power systems in the United States with approximately 30,000 employees in about a dozen states at its peak. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, C-E owned over two dozen other companies including...
and operated by Jersey Central Power and Light. The facility would be located on a site between JCP&L's existing Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station
Oyster Creek Nuclear Generating Station
Oyster Creek nuclear power station is a single unit 636 MWe boiling water reactor power plant located on an 800 acre site adjacent to the Oyster Creek in the Forked River section of Lacey Township in Ocean County, New Jersey. The facility is currently owned and operated by Exelon Corporation and...
and the Garden State Parkway
Garden State Parkway
The Garden State Parkway is a 172.4-mile limited-access toll parkway that stretches the length of New Jersey from the New York line at Montvale, New Jersey, to Cape May at New Jersey's southernmost tip. Its name refers to New Jersey's nickname, the "Garden State." Most New Jersey residents refer...
. Unlike the Oyster Creek Plant, the Forked River Plant would have a cooling tower
Cooling tower
Cooling towers are heat removal devices used to transfer process waste heat to the atmosphere. Cooling towers may either use the evaporation of water to remove process heat and cool the working fluid to near the wet-bulb air temperature or in the case of closed circuit dry cooling towers rely...
to prevent the release of hot water into Oyster Creek
Oyster Creek (New Jersey)
Oyster Creek is a tributary of Barnegat Bay in southeastern New Jersey in the United States.The creek is located approximately south of Forked River in southern Ocean County....
and Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay
Barnegat Bay is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 30 miles long, along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey in the United States. It is a long barrier peninsula, as well as by the north end of Long Beach Island...
.
Construction of the plant was halted in 1974 due to financial cut-backs and environmental protests, but was resumed in 1976. The plant's construction was ultimately canceled in 1980, when General Public Utilities (the parent company of JCP&L) halted construction "because of financial difficulties stemming from the accident at its Three Mile Island facility
Three Mile Island accident
The Three Mile Island accident was a core meltdown in Unit 2 of the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania near Harrisburg, United States in 1979....
", as well as uncertainty over whether the NRC would grant a license or possibly institute other costly regulations. In addition, community fears and a construction accident that killed one worker helped end the plant's construction.