Planning and
execution delivers reliable power when it’s needed.
Killona, La. – Every 18 months
employees at Entergy Louisiana, LLC’s Waterford 3 Steam Electric Station gear up
for a refueling outage.
During a refueling, site personnel
carefully and systematically take the nuclear power plant off line so that crews
can replace a portion of its spent fuel. Workers perform maintenance and repairs
that cannot be conducted during power operations with a focus on keeping the
plant running safely, efficiently and reliably for the next 18-month run.
As Waterford 3 enters its fall
outage, the station is touting a continuous run of more than one year since a
its last down powering, which came during Hurricane Gustav. That is great news
for customers who receive power from the plant. Nuclear units that consistently
stay online help keep electricity costs lower and offset reliance on fossil
fuels and natural gas by Entergy’s utility companies.
“The goal is to operate at 100
percent power from one refueling outage to the next,” said Charlie Arnone,
Waterford’s general manager. “Thanks to a dedicated workforce and a focus on
equipment reliability, Waterford has an excellent reliability record.
“We’re doing the right maintenance at
the right time, including during our outages,” he said.
Practice makes perfect and Waterford
employees have plenty of refueling experience to draw from for their success.
This year’s refueling outage will be the plant’s 16th. In addition, the outage
activities are well planned and expertly orchestrated using the experience and
resources of Entergy’s fleet of nuclear plants.
“Every outage is preceded by two
years’ worth of preparation,” said Arnone. “The focus over those two years is to
refine what you’re doing and how you’re going to do it and to make sure it all
fits into the philosophy of being safe, efficient and reliable.”
Refueling outages typically occur in
the spring and fall when milder weather means reduced electricity demand on the
grid. Waterford is capable of producing 1157 megawatts of electricity. Along
with sister unit River Bend, Waterford cleanly and safely provides 17 percent of
Louisiana’s electric power. While the plant is off line, customers will receive
power from other Entergy generating units as well as power purchased from the
market.
During the outage, the plant bustles
around the clock with a work force twice the size of normal operations.
With safety as the number-one
priority for Entergy, attention to safe performance intensifies during refueling
outages. All employees and contractors are required to complete safety training
before work begins, and supervisors closely monitor employees and reinforce
safety.
“We have a great safety team, and
they’re heavily involved in all aspects of the outage,” said Arnone. “Everyone
has an understanding of the job they’re going to do and how to protect the well
being of employees and customers.”
Waterford 3 Steam Electric Station is
owned by Entergy Louisiana LLC., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Entergy
Corporation. Entergy is an integrated energy company engaged primarily in
electric power production and retail distribution operations. Entergy owns and
operates power plants with approximately 30,000 megawatts of electric generating
capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear generator in the United States.
Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas,
Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has annual revenues of more than $13
billion and approximately 14,700 employees.
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