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Archived News
Columbia Generating Station Information
October 31, 2006
News Release 06-15
Brad Peck, Corporate Communications
(509) 377-8247
RICHLAND, Wash. – Columbia Generating Station automatically shut down at 4:45 this morning ending 486 days, or more than 16 months of continuous operation; the longest run in the facility’s 22 year operating history. The plant’s new record run is 24 percent longer than the previous record of 393 days that ended in July 2004.
Columbia’s safety systems automatically inserted control rods to shut down the reactor when monitoring equipment suggested a problem existed with systems that control steam flow to the main turbine. The turbine drives the plant’s 1250-megawatt generator.
Power for the nuclear plant is valued at well over one million dollars per day in today’s northwest power market making officials anxious to get the plant back on line as soon as possible.
However, unplanned events like this morning’s shut down provide an opportunity for Columbia work teams to make other preplanned system repairs and improvements while technicians investigate and repair the cause of today’s events.
The most substantial preplanned work is already underway and includes preventive maintenance on an emergency High Pressure Core Spray Service Water Pump.
Energy Northwest officials expect the combined work effort will have the plant off-line for days rather than hours or weeks. The Bonneville Power Administration, which receives all the power from Columbia, has already made arrangements to replace output from the nuclear plant.
Energy Northwest is a joint operating agency with 20 public power member utilities throughout Washington. In addition to Columbia, Energy Northwest owns and operates the Nine Canyon Wind Project, Packwood Lake Hydroelectric Project, and White Bluffs Solar Station. The joint operating agency also provides operations and maintenance services for other facilities.