Pinhole leak repaired at South Jersey nuclear plant

Workers have finished repairing a pinhole leak found on a reactor head spray line nozzle at the nation’s oldest operating nuclear plant near Toms River, N.J. 

 The work at the Oyster Creek plant in Lacey Township was completed Thursday, two days after the leak was discovered. It did not pose a safety hazard for workers or the public, but the cause remains under investigation.

The leak occurred on a flange to a piping weld on the reactor’s head spray system. Water was found to be weeping from the pinhole leak at approximately 2 to 3 drops per minute.

The plant has been offline due to a refueling outage that started Oct. 22. It’s not known when it will return to service. Oyster Creek began operating in December 1969 as the first large-scale commercial nuclear power plant in the United States. 

Officials with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission say the reactor is safe. The NRC licenses the individuals who operate the controls of a nuclear power plant.