NJ lifts nuclear moratorium

New Jersey just changed one sentence in state law, and that one sentence had blocked new nuclear plants for decades. On April 8, Governor Mikie Sherrill signed bill S3870/A4528 after an event at the Salem Nuclear Power Plant in Lower Alloways Creek. (nj.gov) The old rule sat inside the Coastal Area Facility Review Act, a state coastal permitting law. It said New Jersey could not approve a new nuclear plant unless there was a Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved method for disposing of the plant’s radioactive waste, which state officials said was an impossible standard to meet. (nj.gov) The new law does not wave a reactor through. It changes the test so the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection commissioner can approve a project only if the waste plan is safe, meets Nuclear Regulatory Commission standards, and removes danger to life and the environment. (njleg.state.nj.us) That is why officials call this a de facto moratorium instead of a straight ban. New Jersey did not outlaw nuclear power on paper, but it wrote a permit condition that no developer could realistically satisfy. (nj.gov) The timing is tied to power prices. The bill text says the regional grid is seeing “unprecedented load growth,” says new supply is constrained, and says record-high capacity market prices are being passed on to New Jersey ratepayers. (njleg.state.nj.us) New Jersey already knows what nuclear means for its grid because Salem and Hope Creek are not small side players. The governor’s office said those two plants produce more than 40% of the state’s electricity and about 80% of its pollution-free power. (nj.gov) That share got more important after Oyster Creek closed in 2018. The bill’s legislative statement says New Jersey’s nuclear contribution declined after the shutdown of Oyster Creek, which it describes as the nation’s oldest operating commercial reactor at the time. (njleg.state.nj.us) So this law is less about pouring concrete tomorrow than about letting New Jersey even start the conversation again. Sherrill paired the signing with a new Nuclear Task Force, which tells developers, utilities, labor unions, and regulators that the state wants actual options on the table. (nj.gov) The next fight moves from “is nuclear legally blocked” to “what kind, where, and who pays.” Large reactors, small modular reactors, transmission upgrades, cooling water, waste storage, and financing all still have to clear federal review, state permits, and basic economics. (nj.gov)