Award for demonstrating a prolonged dedication to safe and economical nuclear generation
– By Abby Gessner –
The STP Nuclear Operating Company received the 2009 Utility Achievement Award from the American Nuclear Society (ANS) for demonstrating a prolonged dedication to safe and economical nuclear generation.
STP Nuclear Operating Company President and CEO Joe Sheppard accepted the award today during the ANS Utility Working Conference in Amelia Island, Florida. This is the second ANS Utility Achievement Award that the company has received.
The ANS award recognizes STP achievements, including a “United States operational record for maintaining an ongoing series of breaker-to-breaker operating cycles at Units 1 and 2, for achieving a world-record average load factor at Unit 1 and for attaining record low operating costs among domestic nuclear power plants.”
“It is because of the leadership and hard work of our employees that we continue to be distinguished in the industry,” Sheppard said. “I am incredibly proud of the men and women who work at the South Texas Project. They are committed to operational safety and reliability.”
STP set an all-time industry record when both units completed consecutive breaker-to-breaker (B2B) production runs by operating continuously between refuelings, which are 18 months apart. The plant set an industry record in 2008 by completing a fourth consecutive B2B run.
STP has achieved the lowest unsubsidized production cost among U.S. nuclear plants – 1.356 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2006 – and the lowest fuel cost of all power plants nationwide, at 0.399 cents per kilowatt-hour in 2000.
The South Texas Project produced more electricity than any other two-unit nuclear power plant in the nation in 2008, for the fifth consecutive year. STP Unit 1 led all 104 reactors nationwide and Unit 2 placed third nationally in electric generation, despite scheduled shutdowns of both units for refueling and maintenance last year. The reactors ranked ninth and eleventh, respectively, of the 439 units worldwide in production.
STP has earned more honors than any other U.S. nuclear power plant. It is the only repeat winner of the industry’s top honor, the B. Ralph Sylvia Best of the Best Award, which STP has won three times. The company additionally has won seven of the annual Top Industry Practice (TIP) awards and a Project of the Year Award for Best Nuclear Project worldwide.
STP’s first ANS Utility Achievement Award was received in 2004 in recognition of STP’s work on the Bottom-Mounted Instrumentation repair. In addition, Sheppard was presented the ANS Utility Leadership Award that year.
STP supplies approximately 7.5 percent of the electricity used in Texas. The plant is managed by the STP Nuclear Operating Company and owned by Austin Energy, CPS Energy and NRG Texas. STP’s twin reactors produce 2,700 megawatts of electricity, enough for nearly two million homes.
To learn more about the South Texas Project, visit www.stpnoc.com.