Refueling begins at Waterford 3

Electric power producer Entergy Corp. brought Waterford Nuclear Generating Station's Unit 3 offline Sunday to complete refueling and maintenance servicing.

Approximately 1,100 temporary jobs will be added to the plant, which is located in Killona, La., during this planned outage alongside the approximated 600 full-time facility staff members.

"A refueling outage isn't only beneficial to the safety and reliability of our plant. It also provides economic value to the surrounding community," Mike Chisum, Waterford 3 site vice president, said.

The company is investing approximately $37.1 million into the refueling and maintenance projects for the facility. Among those positions added at the facility are electricians, valve technicians, operating engineers, radiation protection specialists, iron workers and carpenters, among others.

Unit 3 features an approximated maximum capacity of 1,159 megawatts of electricity and has been in operation since 1985. This outage follows an 18-month period of continuous operation.  

Entergy Corp. generates approximately 10,000 megawatts of electricity across its nuclear generating fleet and has a total power capacity of approximately 30,000 megawatts. The company serves approximately 2.8 electrical utility customers in Ark., Miss., Texas and La.