N.J. nuclear plant back online after maintenance work

    The nation’s oldest operating nuclear plant has been returned to service after crews completed some planned maintenance work there this week.

    Officials at the Oyster Creek plant in Lacey Township say its reactor resumed full-power operations at 12:18 a.m. Saturday.

    The plant had been taken offline Nov. 17, so crews could work on two of the five redundant recirculation pumps that are used to move water through the reactor during power operations. They also completed other routine maintenance projects at the facility.

    The work could not be performed while the plant is generating electricity.

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    Oyster Creek is located about 60 miles east of Philadelphia. It generates enough electricity to power 600,000 homes, or roughly all the homes in Monmouth and Ocean counties combined.

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