Progress Energy Brunswick Plant Successfully Completes Refueling Outage
SOUTHPORT, N.C. -- Employees of the Brunswick Nuclear Plant completed a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage of one of its two power-generating units by reconnecting it to the electric grid at 7:18 p.m., Wednesday, April 6. Brunswick Unit 2 was taken out of service March 4 to replace approximately 44 percent of the reactor's fuel assemblies and to perform numerous maintenance and inspection activities that must be carried out when the reactor is shut down.
"More than 2,500 Progress Energy and contract employees worked the outage while continuing the reliable operation of Unit 1 over the past month," said Brunswick Plant Vice President Neil Gannon. "By remaining focused on developing and then implementing a thorough work plan, the workforce completed the outage safely and in a top-quality manner."
"The successful completion of the Unit 2 outage concludes a four-year extended power uprate project that has added approximately 230 megawatts (MW) to the overall output of the power plant," said Gannon.
The official generation capacity of Brunswick Unit 1 is now 938 MW, after a variety of equipment upgrades added 52 MW in 2002 and 66 MW in 2004. The last Unit 2 outage, held in the spring of 2003, resulted in an 89 MW increase in the unit's net generation. This took Unit 2's official generation capacity to 900 MW. "The outage we just completed will add about 25 more megawatts of output to Unit 2," said Gannon. (According to the Nuclear Energy Institute, one megawatt equals 1,000,000 watts, or enough electricity to power approximately 1,000 homes.)
Power uprate and reliability improvements made during the outage included replacing three main power transformers and other switch yard improvements. Upgrades to the plant condensate and feedwater systems to support uprated power conditions were also completed. "These equipment upgrades improve safety and reliability margins while also supporting the site's 20-year license renewal initiative," added Gannon. "These enhancements will ensure that the Brunswick Plant is equipped for dependable operations through at least 2036."
The Brunswick Plant's two nuclear powered reactors operate on 24-month fuel cycles, with one unit taken out of service for refueling and maintenance each spring. "Well-planned and executed outages coupled with reliable operations between the outages are important for the plant and are essential elements for Progress Energy to meet our customers' needs," said Gannon.
During plant outages, other Progress Energy electricity generation facilities provide electricity to the company's customers. Progress Energy's four nuclear power plants -- the Brunswick Plant located near Southport, N.C., the Harris Plant located just outside of Raleigh, N.C., the Robinson Plant located near Hartsville, S.C., and the Crystal River Plant located close to Crystal River, FL -- produced 35 percent of the company's electricity in 2004.
Progress Energy (NYSE: PGN), headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 250 diversified energy company with more than 24,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues. The company's holdings include two electric utilities serving approximately 2.9 million customers in North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida. Progress Energy also includes nonregulated operations covering competitive generation, energy marketing, natural gas production, fuel extraction and broadband capacity. For more information about Progress Energy, visit the company's Web site at http://www.progress-energy.com.
Source: Progress Energy