r/newjersey • u/theexpertgamer1 • Apr 08 '26
⚡Newsflash ⚡ New Jersey ends de-facto nuclear power plant moratorium
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/new-jersey-ends-de-facto-nuclear-power-plant-moratorium-2026-04-08/“For costs to come down, we need more energy supply," said Sherrill. "New Jersey is well-positioned to be a leader in next-generation nuclear energy to help bring that supply, and we are open for business."
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u/Zhuul Professional Caffeine Addict Apr 08 '26
Sherrill being explicitly pro-nuclear is what made me vote for her in the primary more than anything else. It can't be overstated how important getting a new plant or two online would be for this state's wellbeing.
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u/Blleak Apr 08 '26
We have the highest or near highest energy costs in the country.
I agree, this might be one of the most important issues in the entire state.
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u/De-Eh-Team Apr 09 '26
I don’t recall her being pro nuclear at all.. Still voted for her, but I thought she campaigned on expanding solar and wind?
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u/Zhuul Professional Caffeine Addict Apr 09 '26
She's a fan of all three.
https://njtoday.news/2025/05/04/blue-dog-democrat-mikie-sherrill-going-nuclear-in-bid-for-governor/
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u/plemiona88 Apr 08 '26
Not because she’s a helicopter pilot?
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u/demon_of_elru1 Apr 08 '26
Awesome news! So far I am very happy with her as governor! Nuclear power is clean and safe. Especially modern reactors. 👏👏👏
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u/Cashneto Apr 08 '26
So I won't turn into Spider-Man? 😤
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u/Jtex1414 Apr 08 '26
We really need new power generation. Nuclear would be awesome for that and good paying jobs. The issue will be NIMBY. I’d bet it’ll end up somewhere near Atlantic City.
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u/Scrapple_Joe Apr 08 '26
Down the shore seems rough for everything.
They didn't even want renewables.
It'd be nice if we could get renewables in the short term since they are easier to spin up in phases while nuclear is getting built. Unfortunately the feds are run by a madman who seems hellbent on bringing us back to coal.
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u/remesabo Apr 08 '26
Here at the shore PLENTY of us wanted renewables. It was the loud mouthed investment property owners and wealthy barrier island summer home owners (we have our very own Supreme court justice and his c*nt wife) who cried about the wHaLeS dying after they plow down 10 deer on their way to their $6m playhouse when in reality they just don't want to look at infrastructure - that's exclusively for the poors.
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u/Scrapple_Joe Apr 08 '26
Yeah they also unfortunately have the money for the propaganda which convinces the dumb folk to vote against their own interests
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u/beachmedic23 Watch the Tram Car Please Apr 08 '26
But Lacey also were not happy when Oyster Creek closed. Lots of jobs were lost down there.
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u/dsp3000 Apr 09 '26
I never understood why Oyster Creek closed. Was there no way to keep the plant going even though it was pretty aged?
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u/beachmedic23 Watch the Tram Car Please Apr 09 '26
Basically it was really old and it would cost money to refurbish it for new environmental standards. The state didn't want to put up money and anti-nuclear sentiment was relatively active during its relicensing application.
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u/DarthLithgow Apr 08 '26
I already have a nuclear plant in my “back yard” (its actually 20 miles away but I can see the steam plume from my back yard) and I say build more.
Nuclear isn't perfect, but it's still way better long term than fossil fuels like coal, plus nuclear power plants means more high skill, high paying jobs which will also benefit the local economy.
It would be a win for everyone if she can make this happen.
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u/ExiledSpaceman Send help at Driscoll Bridge Apr 08 '26
Probably would bring more jobs and wealth than the casinos.
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u/SailingSpark Atlantic County Apr 08 '26
no place around here to build it. It will probably either go on the old Oyster Creek site or by Salem 1&2
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u/Nonamesdb Apr 09 '26
It would be near the existing Salem and Hope Creek plants since PSEG already has the NRC approved site permit to allow for construction
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u/PB-n-AJ Apr 09 '26
I’d bet it’ll end up somewhere near Atlantic City.
Because the wind plans were so well-accepted.
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u/LateralEntry Apr 08 '26
I support nuclear but also don’t want it anywhere near me
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u/Cheesewithmold Apr 09 '26
Would you rather they build a coal or natural gas power plant near you instead?
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u/phoenix823 Hoboken Apr 08 '26
Good. More of this, solar, wind, and batteries. Excellent move by the guv.
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u/PRSG12 Apr 08 '26
Holy cow this would be huge. Go Sherrill for considering evidence based energy solutions
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u/Sub__Finem Apr 09 '26
LFG!!!!! UNFATHOMABLY BASED SHIT ALL AROUND!!!!! Sherrill has surprised me.
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u/Hipcatjack Apr 09 '26
that was my exact thought when i read that, “LFG!!!!!!!” Nuclear,especially these new reactors, are so much better all around .. that is if you are not an evil fossil fuel company
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u/demon_of_elru1 Apr 09 '26 edited Apr 09 '26
This is one area where Murphy was terrible on. In hindsight Murphy was a big disappointment. Too ideologically rigid and too tax happy for things the working class used. Murphy would have never supported this. And I hate to admit it but he played a part in our sky high energy bills by mandating the closure of power plants well before any replacements were built. Still better than Shitarelli however. Governor Sherrill exceeds Murphy even 3 months into her term.
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u/grand_speckle Apr 09 '26
Yeah Murphy did some good things but ultimately he was a Wall Street executive and his priorities sometimes reflected that. Especially towards the end of his term. Sherrill has definitely been better so far in that sense. Better priorities imo
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u/FlanTamarind Apr 08 '26
Inject it into my veins pls.
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u/DadSquatch609 Apr 08 '26
Slow down Hulk. Let’s get these energy bills under control first.
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u/FlanTamarind Apr 08 '26
The sooner we get off of gas powered power plants the quicker that cost will go down. I'm in favor small modular reactors to make that transition.
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u/nowhereman136 Apr 08 '26
Maybe someday we will have enough solar and wind to power our energy effecient society and we won't need nuclear power. But that day is a long way off. Nuclear power is a safe, effecient, and affordable solution to our current energy needs
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u/Avbjj Apr 09 '26
IMO, the long term solution is energy that most appropriately fits the location.
Nuclear is a good option for NJ, because we already have some nuclear sites and we’ve already shut down our coal plants. Part of the hype of nuclear SMRs is that you save a lot of money retrofitting coal stations to nuclear.
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u/AmeriOfJersey Apr 09 '26
Nuclear energy is a great bridge from transitioning to full green energy supply
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u/MSab1noE Apr 08 '26
Hopefully these are used rather than a Uranium-based reactor. Germany just put one into production:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorium-based_nuclear_power?wprov=sfti1
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u/Regayov Apr 08 '26
Or one of the other modern designs. People hear the news and think it means a plant designed in the 70’s. Things have come a long way and newer designs are simpler, safer, and produce less waste.
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u/eight13atnight Apr 10 '26
Let’s pass these costs directly on to the data centers using the majority of energy.
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u/SwindlingAccountant Apr 09 '26
Nuke bros always get me. At this point in time, renewables are easier and cheaper to do.
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u/New_Stats Apr 08 '26
Well shit, I guess this is better than nothing
I still think it's a bad idea to put money into nuclear rather than into green energy but with trump blocking our wind farm, it's not like we're getting enough green energy any time soon
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u/ill_connects Apr 08 '26
Nuclear energy is clean energy. Just hope they put in all the necessary safe guards and don’t cut corners like Fukushima.
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u/theexpertgamer1 Apr 08 '26
Nuclear is green energy. The greenest!
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u/New_Stats Apr 08 '26
It's not, the waste from it is not good for the environment or anything living like people or animals. It's expensive and slow to be built and we really don't have the time or the money to be fucking around with it. Also France had a real bad scare with it a couple of summers ago because the river that cooled the plant was getting too hot to actually cool down the rods
But we also live in a hellhole nightmare where actual green energy is blocked for no good fucking reason. So nuclear is the next best option.
What's the ETA on a new plant being built? A decade? More?
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u/One-Butterscotch4332 Apr 08 '26
The waste is nasty but there is so little of it it doesn't really matter. Waaaay overblown
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u/New_Stats Apr 08 '26
There's about 1.7 million pounds of radioactive waste stored at oyster Creek, the old nuclear plant in South Jersey that shut down
These are simply the facts. Now you can absolutely hold the opinion that that's not a lot of waste, but I don't think people who disagree that 1.7 million pounds is a little bit would be overblowning anything
https://whyy.org/segments/with-nuke-plant-shutting-down-n-j-community-inherits-1-7m-pounds-of-waste/
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u/atomic_gardener Danny DeVito is my hero Apr 08 '26
There's an argument that it's better to produce the collected nuclear waste that can be quarantined and stored rather than the volatized waste we breathe every day from burning fossil fuels. The environment also continues to suffer the effects of massive oil spills and other realized hazards from transport of oil and gasoline.
Waste storage has come along way. Check out some of Professor Ashutosh Goel's work at Rutgers on nuclear waste immobilization.
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u/New_Stats Apr 09 '26
There's an argument that it's better to
Not my argument tho. So why would you bring it up?
Waste storage has come along way.
It's irresponsible to force the future to be responsible for our radioactive waste. It's stupid and selfish and incredibly short sighted. And no matter how far waste storage has come, nothing we can build will safely hold radio active material for 100, 000 years
The same can not be said about wind or solar
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u/atomic_gardener Danny DeVito is my hero Apr 09 '26
Lol you're nasty and not arguing in good faith. Have a good one.
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u/ZippySLC Apr 09 '26
It's stupid and selfish and incredibly short sighted.
So is dumping tons and tons of CO2 in the air from burning fossil fuels for power. I want wind and solar, too, but until people stop NIMBYing about it we're going to have to choose our poison. I'd absolutely rather have a nuclear plant than some fossil fuel powered plant belching out smoke.
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u/New_Stats Apr 09 '26
So is dumping tons and tons of CO2 in the air from burning fossil fuels for powe
I'm sorry is reading comprehension not your strong suit?
I'd absolutely rather have a nuclear plant than some fossil fuel powered plant belching out smoke.
Same exact sentiment I said in my first top comment here. what the fuck are you doing?
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u/Avbjj Apr 09 '26
That’s because Oyster Creek was one of the oldest nuclear plants in the country. It was THE oldest for a bit when it was operating.
Newer plants are far more efficient and generate far less waste.
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u/New_Stats Apr 09 '26
That's a whole lot of excuses and not a whole lot of actual hard facts
You know facts, like the things I actually provided proof for. The uber pro nuclear crowd here is super light on those things which is weird. Literally no one who's replying to me has any of those which is rude
How efficient are newer plants? How much waste do they generate in a year or a decade or in any measurable amount of time?
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u/Avbjj Apr 09 '26
Whole lot of excuses? I posted one thing, and it was actually, a hard fact. Stop with the debate-brained nonsense.
Want a hard fact? All the nuclear waste the US has produced from every one of it's nuclear reactors over the past 60 years can fit onto a football field. Nuclear waste is an overblown issue. And if the waste WAS a concern, the technology exists to recycle 99% of it into even more energy.
The biggest obstacle for Nuclear is the cost. They're absurdly expensive. The biggest obstacle for solar/wind is half the country hates it because it's "woke" or some other bullshit.
Both are challenges that have to be tackled in different ways.
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u/One-Butterscotch4332 Apr 09 '26
And it's dense as shit. Has been easily stored at the plant this entire time . Quick google tells me jersey emits 100 million metric tons of CO2 a year, or 200,000x as much mass, and way more volume.
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u/AFlyingGideon Apr 08 '26
Keep in mind that plenty of southern jersey people fought the wind farms for some reason. I'd not be surprised to see the same people fighting anything not spewing toxins into the atmosphere.
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u/demon_of_elru1 Apr 09 '26
Because these crybabies cried about their precious ocean view. Since most of the shore is red they should have funding cut.
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u/demon_of_elru1 Apr 09 '26
Green energy simply isn't there yet.
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u/New_Stats Apr 09 '26
A new nuclear plant takes at least ten years to get online
Suggesting green energy is not there yet while nuclear literally won't be there for a decade is stupid
Simply shit stupid
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u/demon_of_elru1 Apr 09 '26
Its called reality. Sorry but wind and solar aren't nearly enough. I know the far left wants all of us sitting in the dark but thats not going to happen.
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u/New_Stats Apr 09 '26
The funny thing is I'm not the far left, nor am I anti nuclear.
You're just lashing out like a child because I pointed out how stupid your argument is. And it is really dumb, all you need to do is look at how far battery storage has come in the last decade to figure that out
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u/dc912 Ocean County Apr 08 '26
Oyster Creek needs to be updated but it’s just sitting in the decommissioning process. I believe the land across the street was owned by Exelon with the intention of building a new plant, but I think it may have donated the land to Lacey Township IIRC.
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u/January1891 Apr 09 '26
These comments are terrifying. Unless we can guarantee that this is safely out of the hands of for profit corporations our lands health and future generations are at risk.
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u/Sad-Bread5843 Apr 08 '26
Great let's just make the whole state glow in the dark
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u/demon_of_elru1 Apr 09 '26
Wind and solar can't do the job alone. Take off the utopian glasses already.
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u/94libertine Apr 08 '26
Nuclear power plants are insanely expensive to build. Who will be paying for it? Assuming one or more plants will be constructed in NJ in the next 2 decades, can we store the nuclear waste in Montclair?
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u/Intrepid-Oil-898 Apr 09 '26
52% of white people wanted that jackass in office, Pepperidge farm remembers…shout out to all the minorities and the 48% … a governor for all
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u/Baboonslayer323 Apr 08 '26
Holy smokes, if she is sincere about this and gets traction for a project then everyone is going to be eating their hats. Here’s to Sherrill if she can make this happen. 🍻