STP News Release

SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT UNIT 2 SETS U.S. STANDARD
FOR A REFUELING OUTAGE

Feb. 28, 1997 -- Bay City, TX--Electricity production at South Texas Project Unit 2 resumed at 2:09 p.m. Feb. 25, just 17 days and 14 hours after the Feb. 8 start of its refueling outage. Company officials credit excellent outage preparation and work scheduling, the superior material condition of plant equipment and the extraordinary teamwork and safety-consciousness displayed by plant personnel as the most significant factors in the efficient outage.

The 17.58-day achievement sets a new standard for refueling outage duration among the 109 operating U.S. commercial nuclear power plants, according to Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) records.

Due to extraordinary generation performance by Unit 2 since its last refueling, the unit required the largest fuel re-load in its operating history with 92 of the 193 nuclear fuel assemblies replaced. Work teams also performed complete Steam Generator inspections, disassembled and inspected the Main Generator and completed about 1,800 maintenance and surveillance tasks during the outage. Detailed inspections of numerous systems showed the plant continues to be maintained in excellent condition during operations, which permitted the work force to remain focused on scheduled outage tasks.

STP Unit 2 is expected to join Unit 1 in 100 percent power operations on March 2. The units collectively generated a plant-record 20.7 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity in 1996. For the year, STP Unit 2 ranked second in the U.S. and sixth in the world for electrical generation, while STP Unit 1 ranked third in the U.S. and seventh in the world. There are 109 operating nuclear plants in the U.S. and 435 world-wide.

"This team took the time to do each job right the first time, and with the support of an excellent schedule and coordination, we were able to complete the outage with remarkable safety, quality and efficiency," said Bill Cottle, STP executive vice president and general manager, Nuclear. "We are extremely pleased with the results from this outage. Our safety performance was outstanding, with the fewest number of personnel injuries during an outage we’ve ever seen. With the return of Unit 2 to service, our focus and emphasis continues to be directed to the safe, reliable operation of the two units."

The last three refueling outages at STP have been models of efficiency and safety: a then-U.S. record was set at Unit 1 in June 1996 for the briefest refueling outage duration at 22.6 days. This followed Unit 2’s outage of 26.5 days in November 1995. The median refueling outage length in 1996 among U.S. nuclear energy plants was 49 days according to NEI.

The 2,500-megawatt STP plant is located 16 miles southeast of Bay City, Texas.