Beaver Valley Unit 2 returns to full operational capacity after maintenance outage

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC) announced this past week that the second unit at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station, located in Shippingport, Pennsylvania, was returned to service after a refueling and maintenance outage.

The outage began on Sept. 26; while it was offline, approximately one third of its fuel assemblies were replaced. At the time of the announcement, the plant was operating at 20 percent capacity; it is anticipated to reach full operation this week on a gradual basis.

During this time, the facility also had maintenance, inspection and repair work completed. It was completed at this time because it would unsafe or impossible to complete while the reactor is in operation.

Maintenance activity included evaluations of key parts of the reactor such as the turbine, electrical generator, the reactor head and three steam generators.

The Beaver Valley Unit 2 reactor has a generation capacity of approximately 943 megawatts of electrical power.

FENOC serves as a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. and operates the Perry Nuclear Power Plant and the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, located in Perry and Oak Harbor, Ohio, respectively.

Prior to this outage, the Beaver Valley Unit 2 operated in a safe and reliable manner since its refueling in May of 2014.