FULTON, MISSOURI (May 21, 2019) — Ameren Missouri’s Callaway Energy Center finished its planned refueling and maintenance outage and has returned to power operations. During the outage, 84 of Callaway's 193 fuel assemblies were replaced. The largest non-nuclear tasks were upgrading turbine controls and inspecting turbine blades for the first time since they were replaced in 2005, which is part of the standard preventative maintenance program.
Before the planned outage, Fred Bianco, senior director nuclear operations, said Callaway generated energy for 467 consecutive days. It was the second "breaker-to-breaker" run in a row, meaning the plant operated continuously from one planned outage to the next.
"Running Callaway Energy Center non-stop between refueling outages is quite an accomplishment. Ameren Missouri customers benefit by the steady supply of low-cost, clean energy," said Fadi Diya, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer. "I am very proud of our co-workers' hard work and dedication to working safely, correctly and making conservative decisions."
An additional 1,000 workers came on site to complete more than 9,800 tasks. Many of those jobs were filled by Missouri-based union halls – providing a powerful boost to the local economy.
The Callaway Energy Center began operations in 1984. It produces enough energy to power more than 800,000 homes. Refueling outages occur every 18 months, with plans already underway for the next outage, scheduled for fall 2020.
Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than 100 years, and the company's electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. Ameren Missouri's mission is to power the quality of life for its 1.2 million electric and 127,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. The company's service area covers 64 counties and more than 500 communities, including the greater St. Louis area. For more information, visit Ameren.com/Missouri or follow us on Twitter at @AmerenMissouri or Facebook.com/AmerenMissouri.