Ameren Missouri’s Callaway Energy Center began its 21st planned refueling and maintenance outage Saturday, April 2, and will be out of service for several weeks. Refueling outages at the 1,190-megawatt nuclear facility occur every 18 months.
During the refueling, operators will replace 92 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. Additionally, thousands of maintenance activities, inspections and tests will be performed to ensure maximum safety and reliability when the plant returns to service.
To help accomplish the wide range of tasks, more than 1,000 supplemental workers will join Callaway’s regular workforce of about 800 employees – providing a powerful boost to the area’s economy.
The Callaway Energy Center typically generates about 20 percent of the electricity supplied to Ameren Missouri’s 1.2 million customers. While the facility is out of service, the energy it normally produces will be replaced by other Ameren Missouri energy centers. Service to customers will not be affected.
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 please visit AmerenMissouri.com or follow Ameren Missouri on Facebook or Twitter.
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