U.S. Plans for $517 Million in Nuclear Maintenance, Refueling for Rest of Year

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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--While much of the press involving the nuclear industry involves the construction of new plants or the closure of existing ones, refueling and maintenance projects account for a substantial amount of project activity throughout the U.S. Industrial Info is tracking 23 refueling/maintenance outages valued at $517 million that are set to kick in the U.S. from September through December this year.

The highest-value of these is the $35 million refueling outage for the 1,200-megawatt (MW) Unit 1 at the Wolf Creek Nuclear Power Station near Burlington, Kansas. The six- to seven-week outage is set to kick off in September and be completed in early November. The Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corporation (Burlington) operates the plant, while the facility is owned by Westar Energy (NYSE:WR) (Topeka, Kansas), Kansas City Power & Light Company (Holden, Missouri) and Kansas Electric Power Cooperative (Topeka, Kansas).

Geographically, the highest value of refueling projects for the rest of the year is in the Mid-Atlantic Region, which has five projects planned to kick off with a total value of $102 million, including two each in South Carolina and Virginia, and one in North Carolina. The three projects in North Carolina and South Carolina are owned by Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) (Charlotte, North Carolina), while the two in Virginia are owned by Dominion Resources (NYSE:D) (Richmond, Virginia). Among these projects is Duke's refueling outage of Unit 2 at the Catawba Nuclear Station in York, South Carolina. Refueling of the 1,129-MW Westinghouse nuclear pressurized water reactor is expected to kick off in September and take about 30 days to complete.

In addition to the 23 refueling projects, Industrial Info is also tracking two major nuclear capital projects that are set to kick during the last third of the year. These include Duke Energy's $50 million rotor replacement project at the Shearon Harris Nuclear Power Station in North Carolina, which will help increase megawatt capacity and reliability of the 930-MW Unit 1. The other project is a dry cask storage addition to store spent fuel at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Generating Station near Shippingport, Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh. The facility is operated by FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) (Akron, Ohio). The project is expected to kick off in September and be completed in the spring of next year.

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