Nuclear Reactor Plant Closing For Refueling

Richland The state’s only commercial nuclear power plant is shutting down for its annual refueling and maintenance session, the Washington Public Power Supply System said Friday.

The outage was originally scheduled to begin April 15, but reactor No. 2 stayed up to support the Bonneville Power Administration’s need for electrical generation.

The nuclear power plant will be disconnected from BPA’s transmission system early today, WPPSS said.

The maintenance outage is expected to last 42 days, the shortest in plant No. 2’s 10-year operating period.

Among the tasks scheduled for the shutdown are replacement of 152 of the 764 fuel bundles in the reactor core; replacement of 12 monitors that measure reactor operating conditions, and inspection of the high-pressure turbine.

Modifications and new equipment will boost the 1,112-megawatt output of the plant by as much as 50 megawatts, WPPSS said.