The nation's oldest operating nuclear plant plans to test its emergency sirens next week.
Tuesday's test by the Oyster Creek plant is part of a twice-yearly safety drill.
A similar test was staged in June, shortly after the plant's parent company had replaced all 42 emergency warning sirens in the 10-mile radius around the Lacey Township plant. The new units feature battery backup.
The test will take place around 10 a.m. The purpose of the sirens is to notify residents to tune to a radio or television station in case of an emergency.
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.
Oyster Creek is due to shut down by the end of 2019 instead of 2029 as called for in its current license. The plant agreed to the early shutdown in return for not being required to build costly cooling towers that would minimize the impact on fish and other marine life in the creek.
Oyster Creek went online Dec. 1, 1969, the same day as the Nine Mile Point Nuclear Generating Station near Oswego, N.Y. But Oyster Creek's original license was granted first, making it the oldest of the nation's 104 commercial nuclear reactors that are still operating.
