U.S. Sees 10 Nuclear Plant Outages Planned for Second-Quarter 2016

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Industrial Info is currently tracking 10 planned nuclear refueling outages in the U.S. valued at $222 million that are scheduled to begin in the second quarter of 2016.

Click on the image at right for a graph detailing nuclear plant outages by market region.

The four market regions leading the nuclear maintenance in the U.S. are the Great Lakes with two projects worth $56 million, the Northeast with two projects worth $32 million, the Rocky Mountains with one project worth $25 million and the West Coast with one project worth $25 million.

Nuclear outages typically begin every spring and fall and contract out an average of 700 to 2,000 additional personnel in order to complete thousands of maintenance tasks at each plant. The contracted nuclear maintenance workers must complete the required tasks during the 4-8 week outage and work 12-hour shifts for the plant to be able to come back on line in order to generate power to the grid during the summer months. Maintenance workers travel all over the country, spending weeks and months away from their families and work long hours during these refuel outages; security requirements to do this type of work are rigorous due to the proximity to nuclear fuel and technology.

Maintenance workers also must wear transmitting and extremity dosimeters that measure the amount of radiation exposure received or cumulative dose; this is monitored by a designated radiation professional who is in constant radio contact with personnel.

The main purpose of the refueling outage is to replace the older fuel rods in the reactor with new fuel rods, but during this time thousands of smaller maintenance tasks will be performed such as replacement and testing of equipment like level and pressure gauges as well as replacement or maintenance on pumps, valves and controls that cannot be done when the unit is operational.

In addition, Industrial Info is tracking two nuclear outages in Canada scheduled to start in the second quarter of 2016 worth $35 million. For more information on the nuclear situation in Canada, see February 29, 2016, article Canadian Nuclear Units will be Overhauled at a Cost Approaching $20 Billion.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, five offices in North America and 10 international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities. Follow IIR on: Facebook - Twitter - LinkedIn. For more information on our coverage, send inquiries to info@industrialinfo.com or visit us online at http://www.industrialinfo.com/.