Richland, Wash. – Yesterday evening, Energy Northwest operators successfully disconnected Columbia Generating Station from the Northwest power grid, commencing its biennial spring refueling outage. This planned 56-day outage allows for adding fresh nuclear fuel in the reactor core and completing maintenance projects that can only occur when the reactor is offline.
“For the next several weeks, our priority is to safely complete the scheduled work, ensuring Columbia continues to deliver reliable, around-the-clock, carbon-free power to the region," said Grover Hettel, Energy Northwest's executive vice president and chief nuclear officer.
The refueling period coincides with peak spring runoff from snowmelt, maximizing regional hydroelectric power production and minimizing the impact of taking Columbia offline.
Prior to this outage, Columbia achieved its second-longest operating run in its 40-year history – 662 days of continuous operation. The plant also marked its third breaker-to-breaker operation, showcasing the team's operational excellence. This operational run of nearly two years provided continuous power to meet the needs of over a million homes in the region.
- Temporary Workforce Influx: Over 2,000 skilled temporary workers from the local area and across the country join Energy Northwest's normal workforce of about 1,000 employees, bringing substantial economic value to the region.
- Refueling Process: Crews will replace 256 of the 764 nuclear fuel assemblies in Columbia's reactor core with new fuel. They will remove solid used fuel assemblies, which have spent six years in the core, and place them in Columbia's used fuel pool before their eventual transfer to dry-cask storage.
- Maintenance Projects: More than 10,000 scheduled tasks include key initiatives and preventative maintenance activities such as replacing the adjustable speed drive and a reactor recirculating pump and motor, valve repairs, and upgrading the 230kV transmission line.
Years of rigorous planning go into each refueling outage, with long-lead planning starting many years in advance.
Columbia Generating Station, located 10 miles north of Richland, is the Northwest's only nuclear power plant. It is scheduled to return to service and reconnect to the power grid in mid-June, continuing its vital role in providing clean and reliable energy to the region.
About Energy Northwest
Energy Northwest is a Washington state public power joint operating agency and a premier provider of carbon-free electricity. Energy Northwest comprises 29 public power member utilities, serving more than 1.5 million customers, and provides its members and regional customers with safe, reliable, cost-effective, responsible power generation and innovative energy and business solutions. The agency owns and operates hydroelectric, solar, battery storage, wind and the Northwest's only nuclear power facility. Energy Northwest also actively supports transportation electrification and new generation projects to the benefit of public power.
