New Jersey Ends 40-Year Moratorium on Building New Nuclear Power Plants

New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill signed legislation on April 8 that ended a 40-year moratorium on building nuclear energy plants.

Nuclear power accounted for 52.7 percent of New Jersey’s electricity generation in 2024, the largest share of any energy source, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. Natural gas accounted for 45.5 percent, and renewable energy accounted for 1.8 percent. The state has two operating nuclear power plants and one that has been shut down and is being decommissioned.

“For costs to come down, we need more energy supply. New Jersey is well-positioned to be a leader in next-generation nuclear energy to help bring that supply, and we are open for business,” Sherrill said in a press release. “By lifting outdated barriers and bringing together leaders across government, industry, and labor, we’re setting the stage for our state to pursue new advanced nuclear power.

Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) called himself a proud supporter of the legislation.

“Nuclear power can play a critical role in keeping energy affordable, and this bill will allow our state to utilize this energy source by updating the permitting framework to safely build and maintain new nuclear facilities,” Booker said in a press release.

The moratorium could be traced to a restriction in the Coastal Area Facility Review Act that blocked new permits for the construction and operation of new nuclear power plants. That law required federal radioactive waste disposal, which the governor’s press release called “an outdated standard that cannot be met.”

The new law allows for permits to be approved based on Nuclear Regulatory Commission-compliant waste storage, which the state said has a 100 percent effective safety record in the United States.

The Sierra Club’s New Jersey chapter has been a longtime opponent of building new nuclear power plants. The New Jersey chapter opposed building new nuclear power plants in Salem County in 2010.

“It’s not green if it glows,” then-NJ Sierra Club Director Jeff Tittel said at that time.

The Sierra Club New Jersey Chapter didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

The Sierra Club’s national chapter readopted its policy in 2024 of opposing the construction of new nuclear power plants and recommends the phased decommissioning of existing nuclear power plants.

“Events at Three Mile Island Nuclear Plant reaffirm the validity of the Sierra Club policy on the lack of safety in nuclear plants and in the nuclear fuel cycle,” the national Sierra Club posted on its website. “These problems can lead to adverse health and environmental effects. The possibility of human failure dooms the nuclear fuel cycle to unacceptable risks. The Sierra Club continues to oppose construction of any new commercial nuclear fission power plants.”