Over the next year, NPPD will take the actions necessary to transition into a 24-month refueling cycle. Normally, NPPD refuels its nuclear power station every 18 months. The majority of nuclear stations designed like Cooper conduct their refueling outages every 24 months
– By Stephen Heiser –
Getting good gas mileage and saving money at the pump is as important for a car as it is when refueling the state's largest nuclear power station.
Nebraska Public Power District, owner and operator of Cooper Nuclear Station in southeast Nebraska, will explore how it can save money and get more out of its nuclear power plant for the benefit of its operations and its customers.
Over the next year, NPPD will take the actions necessary to transition into a 24-month refueling cycle. Normally, NPPD refuels its nuclear power station every 18 months. The majority of nuclear stations designed like Cooper conduct their refueling outages every 24 months.
"Cooper generates approximately 21 percent of our customers' electricity," said President and CEO Ron Asche, "so its refueling outages are critical to our operations. In addition, a refueling outage is a complex orchestration of materials and resources related to numerous maintenance, repair, and equipment replacement activities.. If we can save costs associated with an outage and make a change that benefits us as a utility, it only makes sense to move forward with this change."
During a refueling outage, the plant is removed from service and employees conduct large- and small-scale equipment maintenance, repair, and replacement activities. One of those large-scale activities is to replace approximately 160 used fuel bundles (approximately one-third of the fuel used to generate electricity) with the same number of new fuel bundles.
Transitioning to a 24-month refueling cycle will include a one-time cost of approximately $6.5 million for an NRC license amendment and will add approximately $6 million in fuel costs over the next three years; however, NPPD expects to save $50 million every six years after the transition is complete. The 24-month refueling cycle reduces the number of refueling outages from four outages over a 6-year period to three outages every six years. This results in reduced labor costs, material expenses, and the costs associated with purchasing replacement energy when Cooper is in outage. Cooper will also benefit by having a schedule that reduces the competition for specialized contract labor, which currently occurs when Cooper is in outage at the same time as other nuclear power plants in the region.
NPPD will conduct studies to ensure that Cooper's instrument calibration and preventative maintenance requirements, the type and amount of fuel, as well as plant procedures and calculations are set up to support 24-month cycles. It will take approximately one year to perform the necessary engineering and licensing work. NPPD will then need to seek approval of this change from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. NPPD hopes to receive NRC approval by August of 2012 and begin operating under a 24-month fuel cycle in the fall of that year.
NPPD's mission is to safely generate and deliver low-cost reliable energy and provide outstanding customer service. Working in partnership with the state's rural public power districts, cooperatives and municipalities, NPPD helps serve an estimated 1 million Nebraskans with retail or wholesale electric power and energy-related products and services.