AVILA BEACH, Calif., April 30 /PRNewswire/ -- Diablo Canyon Power Plant operators safely shut down Unit 1 at 1:30 a.m. Monday, April 30, 2007 to begin a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage. Unit 1 operated continuously for 513 days, beginning at the conclusion of the last refueling outage in December 2005.
"Operating Unit 1 continuously between refueling outages is a testament to the people who maintain and operate it safely and efficiently every day," said Jim Becker, Vice President, Operations, and Station Director. "The Diablo Canyon team is prepared to execute a world-class outage that will set the stage for another long, continuous run for our customers."
Diablo Canyon personnel, supplemented by over 1,200 specialized and local union contractors, will complete nearly 11,000 tasks during the outage, including replacing one-third of the nuclear fuel. This will allow the plant to produce electricity safely and efficiently through the next 18-month cycle.
Diablo Canyon's two units together produce 2,300 net megawatts of electricity, about 10 percent of all electricity generated in California, and enough to meet the needs of over 2 million homes in central and northern California.
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