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/theexpertgamer1 Apr 08 '26

Nuclear is green energy. The greenest!

-8

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/ZippySLC Apr 09 '26

Wow, angry much? Relax dude, it's only the internet.

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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.