Ameren Missouri’s Callaway Energy Center began its 18th planned refueling and maintenance outage Saturday morning, Oct. 15, and is expected to be out of service several weeks. Refueling outages at the 1,190-megawatt nuclear facility occur every 18 months.
The Callaway Energy Center 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”—since it began operating in 1984. Callaway’s all-time record run was 520 days, ending in October 2008.
During this refueling, operators will replace 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. Additionally, thousands of maintenance activities, inspections and tests will also 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, supplied by 30 contractors, will join Callaway’s work force 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 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.
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