The Unit 2 reactor at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station in Peach Bottom, Pennsylvania, returned to full power late last week following a maintenance outage.
The facility was taken offline on Dec. 14 to repair a steam valve after a radioactive-steam leak was detected. An earlier Power News Wire report said the leak occurred in an area that is not accessible to plant staff or the public.
Exelon Corp., the facility’s owner-operator, said Unit 3 did not experience any interruption in operations as a result of the Unit 2 outage.
Exelon also said the plant could not be repaired while the unit is in operation due to the location of the faulty valve and safety concerns.
When in full operation, the Peach Bottom facility can produce approximately 2,700 megawatts of electricity. The company said this amount of energy is capable of providing electricity to approximately 2.25 million typical homes and businesses in the U.S.
Exelon operates three nuclear power plants, 12 fossil-fuel power plants, two landfill gas plants and one pumped-storage hydroelectric power plant in Pennsylvania.
