The Salem Nuclear Power Plant is a two-unit pressurized water reactor

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP), also known as a nuclear power station (NPS), nuclear generating station (NGS) or atomic power station (APS) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power st ...

located in Lower Alloways Creek Township, in Salem County,

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

, United States. It is owned by PSEG Nuclear LLC of the Public Service Enterprise Group and Constellation Energy. 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.

Location

The Salem Nuclear Generating Station is located about 18 miles south of Wilmington, Delaware. It shares an artificial island in the Delaware Bay with the Hope Creek Nuclear Power Plant. Together, they form the third largest nuclear generating site in the United States. The Salem facility has two operating units, both pressurized water reactors (PWRs) built by Westinghouse. Construction began on September 25, 1968. Salem Unit 1 began commercial operations on June 30, 1977, and Unit 2 on October 13, 1981. The complex covers about 740 acres.

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. Unit 1 is now licensed to operate until August 13, 2036 and Unit 2 is licensed to operate until April 18, 2040.

Surrounding population

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of , concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about , concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity. The 2010 U.S. population within of Salem was 52,091, an increase of 54.1 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data. The 2010 U.S. population within 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 Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

(Capital) (21mi/34km) ** Wilmington (19mi/31km) * Pennsylvania **

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

(43mi/70km)

Safety issues

In the 1990s, the Salem nuclear reactors were shut down for two years due to maintenance issues, according to ''The New York Times''.Creating the Nation's Largest Utility Company
''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', January 29, 2006. Consultants identified several problems, including a leaking generator, unreliable reactor controls, and a workplace culture where employees feared retaliation for reporting issues. In 2004, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) increased oversight and monitoring of the Salem plants. An extensive NRC investigation, along with a review by independent consultants, later identified minor issues such as inadequate routine maintenance and low employee morale. However, the plant was found to be safe. On August 22, 2013, the Salem plant was temporarily shut down following a leak of slightly radioactive water. The spill was contained within the plant’s containment building, and regulators stated there was no risk to the public. The plant resumed operations less than 48 hours later, on August 24. In May 2014, during a scheduled refueling outage at Salem 2, broken bolts from a cooling pump were discovered inside the reactor vessel. Westinghouse inspected the site and found additional bolts at the bottom of the cooling pumps and the reactor vessel. Salem Unit 2 returned to service on July 11, 2014.

Environmental concerns

Cooling system and fish mortality

The Salem Nuclear Generating Station has faced ongoing environmental concerns related to its cooling system. The plant draws billions of gallons of water daily from the Delaware River to cool steam produced during nuclear fission, returning the water to the estuary at elevated temperatures. Environmental groups, including the Delaware Riverkeeper Network led by Maya van Rossum, have criticized the system for causing high fish mortality. Estimates suggest that approximately 3 billion adult fish, along with additional eggs and larvae, are killed each year. According to van Rossum, the plant kills about 48% of the striped bass population in the Delaware River annually. The bay anchovy, an important species in the local ecosystem, has also reportedly experienced population declines. Van Rossum has referred to the plant as the “largest predator in the Delaware estuary.” These concerns have been the subject of extended legal disputes between environmental organizations and regulatory agencies.

Water permit disputes

In October 2013, the Delaware Riverkeeper Network, New Jersey Sierra Club, and Clean Water Action filed a lawsuit against the

New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection The New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) is a government agency in the U.S. state of New Jersey that is responsible for managing the state's natural resources and addressing issues related to pollution. NJDEP now has a staf ...

(NJDEP) over delays in renewing the Salem plant’s water discharge permit. The case focused on NJDEP’s failure to act on PSE&G’s 2006 application for a New Jersey Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NJPDES) permit and whether cooling towers should be required to reduce fish deaths. In November 2014, the parties settled. NJDEP agreed to issue a draft discharge permit by June 30, 2015. The permit, when released, did not mandate the construction of cooling towers at Salem Units 1 and 2, a measure that would have cost about $1 billion.

Electricity production

Water use

Salem Units 1 and 2 use water from Delaware Bay for cooling. Water is drawn through an intake building equipped with rotating screens that remove debris, which is later washed away. Occasionally, heavy accumulations of grass clog the intakes, causing the reactors to operate at reduced power for extended periods. Approximately 2 gigawatts of waste heat from the steam cycle are discharged into the bay. Regulations limit the resulting water temperature increase to less than 1 °C during summer months and 2 °C during the rest of the year. The large closed-cycle cooling tower on the site belongs to the adjacent Hope Creek plant and is not used by the Salem reactors.FR Doc E7-20761
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References

External links

Official PSEG website
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Salem County, New Jersey Energy infrastructure completed in 1977 Energy infrastructure completed in 1981 Lower Alloways Creek Township, New Jersey Nuclear power plants in New Jersey Nuclear power stations using pressurized water reactors Towers completed in 1977 Towers in New Jersey Exelon Public Service Enterprise Group 1977 establishments in New Jersey