PG&E has returned to service one of the two reactors at its Diablo Canyon Power Plant, ending a planned maintenance outage.
Unit 2 of the nuclear power plant in San Luis Obispo County returned to service on June 9. The scheduled plant maintenance and refueling began on May 1.
“The work completed during these refueling periods positions the plant for efficient operations in the future and enhances our ability to continue delivering clean, reliable and affordable electricity to our customers,” said Jim Becker, PG&E’s site vice president. “Through careful planning, focused execution and our team’s commitment to excellence, we were able to successfully finish this critical work that supports continued reliable energy delivery.”
More than 1,000 temporary workers – a boost to the local economy – were brought in to work with PG&E employees to replace a portion of the reactor fuel and to perform maintenance and testing on plant system components that are inaccessible during regular plant operations.
PG&E completes a planned outage on each reactor unit at Diablo Canyon about every 18 months to keep the plant in peak operating condition. The combined two reactor units produce about 2,300 net megawatts of greenhouse-gas free electricity – enough to serve more than 3 million homes in PG&E’s service area.
