Project will generates a large number of contract jobs
– By Stephen Heiser –
Operators at California’s Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant have begun a shutdown of one of the facility’s two reactors in order to install new fuel rods and replace the unit’s four steam generators. The reactor was shut down Sunday, PG&E spokeswoman Emily Christensen said. Standard refueling outages usually take about a month but replacement of the steam generators will require more time. Each of the four steam generator units is 70 feet long and weighs 350 tons. The steam generators in the other reactor were replaced a year ago. That outage lasted 68 days.
“We anticipate that it will take a couple of months,” Christensen said.
Workers will also replace a third of the reactor’s fuel rods and perform maintenance and testing. The project will see some 19,000 jobs being performed. The plant’s workforce will be augmented by 2,000 temporary workers during the operation. The units contain thousands of tubes that transfer heat from the nuclear reactor to a steam-powered electrical generator. They must be swapped out because the walls of the many tubes are deteriorating and must be plugged.
“Replacing the steam generators is an important investment in the plant’s future and will help ensure that Diablo Canyon remains a safe and reliable provider of electricity,” plant manager James Becker said.