Associated Press

LOWER ALLOWAYS CREEK - Federal regulators have approved a permit that would allow possible construction of a new reactor near New Jersey’s Salem and Hope Creek nuclear power plants.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board said Thursday it found no basis to deny PSEG Power’s application.

The permit gives the energy company a 20-year window to pursue a construction and operating license for a nuclear plant.

PSEG Power says it has no immediate plans to build a new reactor at the site.

Company spokesman Joe Delmar says they applied in 2010, but the “economics don’t make sense right now” for the company to pursue construction of a nuclear facility.

Jeff Tittel, Director of the New Jersey Sierra Club, says it’s dangerous to put a nuclear plant at that location, citing flood risks and population density.