Unit 1 at Susquehanna Nuclear Plant Returns to Service

News provided by

Aug 04, 2010, 07:03 ET

BERWICK, Pa., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Unit 1 at PPL's Susquehanna nuclear plant in Luzerne County, Pa., returned to service Wednesday (8/4).

Operators at the plant had safely shut down the Unit 1 reactor July 16 after river water entered the turbine building basement from hatches that provide access to part of the unit's condenser. The condenser uses river water to cool the steam leaving the turbine.

"While the unit was shut down, we made repairs to the circulating water system and assessed the equipment in the turbine building basement," said Jeff Helsel, PPL's Susquehanna plant manager. "The equipment was repaired as needed and thoroughly tested to ensure that the unit is ready to run safely and reliably."

All of the water removed from the turbine building basement was processed according to approved plant procedures.

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