R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant returns to service after scheduled refueling

Exelon Corp. announced on Monday that the R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant has returned to full operational capacity after a regular refueling outage.

“I want to recognize our employees and supplemental workers for another safe, successful refueling outage,” Joe Pacher, site vice president, said. “The important work performed over the past several weeks will help us continue to operate at world-class levels, generating clean, reliable energy for our region.”

Approximately 1,300 permanent site staff and temporary contractors completed maintenance operations including inspections and testing of key components of the reactor and they replaced one third of the nuclear fuel assemblies at the plant. Maintenance activity was performed because it would have been unsafe or impossible to do so while the reactor is operating at full power.

The company states that this regular maintenance and testing activity aims to ensure reliable and safe operation of the plant.

Refueling operations take place every 18 months. The R.E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant is located in Ontario, New York, and has an output capacity of approximately 580 megawatts of electricity. According to the company, this is enough to provide power to approximately 500,000 average American residences. The plant is authorized to operate through 2029.

This outage was initiated on Oct. 19.