Christie Says New Nuclear Plant Would Help Solve New Jersey Energy Needs

New Jersey (STONJ1) Governor Chris Christie said a new nuclear plant would help solve the state’s energy needs.

“We have to look at building another nuclear plant,” Christie, a first-term Republican, said at a town hall in Ocean Township. “Fifty-three percent of our electricity comes from nuclear power.”

New Jersey has four reactors at three nuclear power stations.

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PEG) began the federal paperwork in May 2010 for new nuclear development near its plant outside Salem, New Jersey. PSEG delivers power to about three- quarters of New Jersey’s residents.

Construction wouldn’t begin any time soon, Joe Delmar, spokesman for PSEG Nuclear, a unit of the Newark-based power company, said in a phone interview.

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission isn’t slated to decide whether the proposed location is suitable for nuclear construction before late 2014, Delmar said.

Once the federal atomic agency grants the permit that Public Service seeks, the company would have 20 years to seek construction and operating licenses from the NRC. Public Service hasn’t decided how many reactors it would construct or what design it would employ, Delmar said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Elise Young in Trenton at eyoung30@bloomberg.net; Julie Johnsson in Chicago at jjohnsson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Mark Tannenbaum at mtannen@bloomberg.net