Unit 1 at Susquehanna Nuclear Plant Returns to Service

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Apr 25, 2010, 05:50 ET

BERWICK, Pa., April 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Unit 1 at PPL's Susquehanna nuclear plant near Berwick, Luzerne County, Pa., returned to service early Sunday (4/25).

The unit had shut down automatically and safely Thursday (4/22) while it was at a low power level during testing following the biennial refueling and maintenance outage that was completed Wednesday.

"As the unit's power output was being increased after the refueling outage, we were doing a planned series of tests at different power levels to ensure the unit's safety and reliability," said Jeff Helsel, PPL's Susquehanna plant manager. "The automatic shutdown occurred while the unit was undergoing one of the low-power level tests."

"Plant personnel have analyzed the issue that caused the shutdown," he said. "With the unit again generating electricity, we will continue the series of planned tests."

During the refueling and maintenance outage that began March 2, workers completed a large number of equipment maintenance tasks and upgrades to improve plant safety, reliability and performance in addition to replacing about 40 percent of the uranium fuel.

"Included in the upgrades was installation of a new state-of-the-art digital control system that was being tested when the unit shut down," Helsel said. "While the unit was shut down, we made adjustments to the new control system."

The Susquehanna plant, located in Luzerne County about seven miles north of Berwick, is owned jointly by PPL Susquehanna LLC and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc. and is operated by PPL Susquehanna.

PPL Susquehanna is one of PPL Corporation's generating facilities. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) controls or owns nearly 12,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to about 4 million customers in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom. More information is available at www.pplweb.com.

SOURCE PPL Corporation