Exelon shuts down nuclear power plant in New Jersey fearing Hurricane Irene

New Jersey, August 28 (ANI): Following the Hurricane scare on the US East Coast, Exelon Corporation had shutdown its Oyster Creek nuclear power plant in New Jersey as a precautionary measure.

According to Marshall Murphy, Director of nuclear communications at Exelon, the reactor, which has a capacity a 636 megawatt, was taken offline at 5 p.m. local time, Fox News reports.

"It's really as a precaution, a conservative action because we do expect hurricane force winds," Murphy was quoted, as saying.

Murphy, however said that the outage will be short and the reactor will be made functional after the hurricane threat reduces.

Also, as a precautionary measure in advance of the storm, a team of highly trained and qualified personnel is stationed at the plant throughout the weekend to keep vigil on the nuclear facility. (ANI)