Oyster Creek Nuclear Plant Back Online After Refueling

The nation's oldest nuclear power plant has been returned to service.

The reactor at the Oyster Creek plant in Lacey Township was restarted early Monday. It had been offline since late October for a planned refueling and maintenance work.

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.

The plant 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.

(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)