Unit 1 at Susquehanna Nuclear Plant Shuts Down for Planned Inspection

BERWICK, Pa., May 16, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Operators at the PPL Susquehanna nuclear plant in Luzerne County, near Berwick, Pa., shut down the Unit 1 reactor as planned Monday (5/16) for an inspection of the main turbine.

"As a precaution, we have decided to inspect the blades on the Unit 1 turbine after finding defects on similar blades in the Unit 2 turbine during a routine inspection as part of the current refueling and maintenance outage," said Timothy S. Rausch, PPL's chief nuclear officer.

"While the defective turbine blades we found on Unit 2 are being replaced, we believe that shutting down Unit 1 to inspect its turbine for signs of similar defects is the right response. Unit 1 will be returned to service when the inspection and any needed turbine blade replacements are completed," Rausch said.

The Susquehanna nuclear plant's two units produce electricity by boiling water to create steam that passes through turbines, each with hundreds of fan-like blades on rotating parts. The turbines turn a main generator on each unit to produce electricity.

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 LLC is one of PPL Corporation's generating affiliates. Headquartered in Allentown, Pa., PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), through its affiliates, owns or controls about 19,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets, and delivers electricity and natural gas to about 10 million customers in the United States and the United Kingdom. More information is available at www.pplweb.com.

SOURCE PPL Susquehanna

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