The Limerick Generating Station’s Unit 1 nuclear reactor, located approximately 21 miles northwest of Philadelphia, went back online today and is again operating at full power.
Operators responded to an automatic system shutdown, after a valve closed on one of the unit’s main stream lines on February 23. Plant personnel worked diligently to repair the valve without impacting electrical services to the regional homes and businesses powered by the generating station.
Limerick spreads out over 600-acres of land and draws its reactor cooling water from the Schuylkill River. Units 1 and 2 received their full operating licenses from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) in 1984 and 1989.
When operating together, Limerick Unit 1 and Unit 2 produce approximately 2,345 net megawatts (MW) of carbon free electricity – enough energy to power more than two million average American homes.
The station’s private financer, Exelon, is one of the nation’s largest competitive power producers. Exelon’s utilities deliver electricity and natural gas to more than 7.8 million customers in central Maryland, northern Illinois and southeastern Pennsylvania.
Exelon Generation operates three nuclear power plants, 12 fossil power plants, two landfill gas plants and one pumped storage hydroelectric power plant in Illinois.
