Ameren Missouri’s Callaway Energy Center, located near Fulton, Mo., returned to service today after completing a routine refueling and maintenance outage that began Oct. 15. The 1,190-megawatt nuclear facility began generating electricity again at 6:46 a.m.
Refueling outages at the Callaway Energy Center occur every 18 months. This was the facility’s 18th refueling since it began operating in 1984.
"During Refuel 18 we were able to do important inspections and maintenance to ensure that our team can safely run Callaway during the next cycle,” said Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Adam Heflin. “Our Callaway team and our supplemental personnel kept a constant focus on industrial, radiological and nuclear safety which ultimately leads to a successful outage,"
During this refueling, operators replaced 84 of the 193 fuel assemblies in the reactor core. Each fuel assembly is an 8 ½-inch-square bundle of 12-foot-long metal tubes containing ceramic pellets of uranium dioxide fuel.
In addition to the refueling, itself, more than 7,500 maintenance activities, inspections and tests were performed to ensure maximum safety and reliability when the plant returned to service. More than 1,000 supplemental workers, supplied by 30 contractors, joined Callaway’s regular work force of about 800 employees to help accomplish the wide range of tasks—providing valuable benefits to the mid-Missouri economy.
At the time the outage began, Callaway had operated continuously since its last refueling ended in June 2010—a period of 489 days. This was the facility’s second longest continuous run and second time it has operated continuously between refuelings—called a “breaker-to-breaker run.” Callaway’s all-time record run was 520 days, ending in October 2008.
The Callaway Energy Center typically generates about 20 percent of the electricity supplied to Ameren Missouri’s 1.2 million customers. Each Callaway refueling outage is scheduled to take place in either spring or fall, when electricity usage is low due to the mild weather, and ample replacement power is available from other plants.
# # #
Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than a century, and our electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. We serve 1.2 million electric and 126,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. Our mission is to meet their energy needs in a safe, reliable, efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Our service area covers 63 counties and 500 towns, including the greater St. Louis area. For more information, visit AmerenMissouri.com.