Last month, Energy Northwest operators successfully disconnected Columbia Generating Station from the power grid. This was the beginning of its biennial spring refueling outage, which is scheduled to last for 56 days. The outage allows operators to add fresh nuclear fuel in the reactor core and complete maintenance projects that can only occur when the reactor is offline. The refueling period coincides with peak runoff from snowmelt, which maximizes regional hydropower production and minimizes the impact of taking Columbia offline.
The refuel outage brings with it a temporary workforce influx, with over 2,000 skilled workers from the local area and across the country joining Energy Northwest’s normal workforce. Crews will replace 256 of the 764 nuclear fuel assemblies in Columbia’s reactor core, placing the spent assemblies in the used fuel pool before their transfer to dry-cask storage. There are also more than 10,000 scheduled tasks and maintenance such as replacing the adjustable speed drive and a reactor recirculating pump and motor, valve repairs, and transmission line upgrades.
Read more here: Spring refueling begins at Columbia Generating Station
Or check them out on Facebook, where Energy Northwest has been posting outage updates! Take a look at behind-the-scenes videos of all the hard work happening!