BERWICK, Pa., Oct. 1, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Operators began
the process to safely shut down the Unit 2 reactor at Talen
Energy's Susquehanna nuclear plant
in Luzerne County, Pa. late Friday
(9/30) and disconnected from the regional transmission grid early
Saturday (10/1). As previously announced, the outage plan was
developed to address indications of small cracks developing on a
metal blade on the unit's low pressure turbine.
The plant is continuing a multi-year, systematic turbine blade
modification and replacement project. Susquehanna has determined root cause of the
issue and is expected to complete the final, permanent
modifications on the Unit 2 turbine during the 2017 refueling
outage and on the Unit 1 turbine during the 2018 refueling
outage.
"Since we are addressing a single blade, we expect this to be a
brief outage and the plant will inform its neighbors when we return
to service," said Tim Rausch, Senior
Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer. "As is always the
case, Susquehanna's primary focus
is safety, which then enables us to deliver reliable, zero-carbon
energy to our customers," said Rausch.
Susquehanna Unit 1 continues to operate safely at full rated
power and there are no indications of issues with Unit 1 turbine
blades that have yet to be modified.
The Susquehanna plant, located
about seven miles north of Berwick, is jointly owned by Susquehanna
Nuclear, LLC, and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc., and is
operated by Susquehanna Nuclear. For information, visit
www.susquehannanuclear.com.
Susquehanna Nuclear LLC is one of Talen Energy's generating
affiliates. Talen Energy (NYSE: TLN) is one of the largest
competitive energy and power generation companies in the United States. Our diverse generating
fleet operates in well-developed, structured wholesale power
markets. To learn more about us, visit
www.talenenergy.com.
Forward-Looking Information
Statements contained herein are "forward-looking statements"
within the meaning of the federal securities laws. These statements
often include such words as "believe," "expect," "anticipate,"
"intend," "plan," "estimate," "target," "project," "forecast,"
"seek," "will," "may," "should," "could," "would" or similar
expressions. Although Talen Energy believes that the expectations
and assumptions reflected in these forward-looking statements are
reasonable, these statements are subject to a number of risks and
uncertainties, and actual results may differ materially from the
results discussed in the statements. Among the important factors
that could cause actual results to differ materially from the
forward-looking statements are: adverse economic conditions;
changes in commodity prices and related costs; the effectiveness of
Talen Energy's risk management techniques, including hedging;
accounting interpretations and requirements that may impact
reported results; operational, price and credit risks in the
wholesale and retail electricity markets; Talen Energy's ability to
forecast the actual load needed to perform full-requirements sales
contracts; weather conditions affecting generation, customer energy
use and operating costs and revenues; disruptions in fuel
supply; circumstances that may impact the levels of coal
inventory that are held; the performance of transmission facilities
and any changes in the structure and operation of, or the pricing
limitations imposed by, the RTOs and ISOs that operate those
facilities; blackouts due to disruptions in neighboring
interconnected systems; competition; federal and state legislation
and regulation; costs of complying with environmental and related
worker health and safety laws and regulations; the impacts of
climate change; the availability and cost of emission allowances;
changes in legislative and regulatory policy; security and safety
risks associated with nuclear generation; Talen Energy's level of
indebtedness; the terms and conditions of debt instruments that may
restrict Talen Energy's ability to operate its business; the
performance of Talen Energy's subsidiaries and affiliates, on which
its cash flow and ability to meet its debt obligations largely
depend; the risks inherent with variable rate indebtedness;
disruption in financial markets; Talen Energy's ability to access
capital markets; acquisition or divestiture activities, and Talen
Energy's ability to realize expected synergies and other benefits
from such business transactions, including in connection with the
completed MACH Gen acquisition; changes in technology; any failure
of Talen Energy's facilities to operate as planned, including in
connection with scheduled and unscheduled outages; Talen Energy's
ability to optimize its competitive power generation operations and
the costs associated with any capital expenditures; significant
increases in operation and maintenance expenses; the loss of key
personnel, the ability to hire and retain qualified employees and
the impact of collective labor bargaining negotiations; war, armed
conflicts or terrorist attacks, including cyber-based attacks;
risks associated with federal and state tax laws and regulations;
Talen Energy's ability to successfully integrate the RJS Power
businesses and to achieve anticipated synergies and cost savings as
a result of the spinoff transaction and combination with RJS Power;
costs of complying with reporting requirements as a newly public
company and any related risks of deficiencies in disclosure
controls and internal control over financial reporting as a
standalone entity; and the ability of affiliates of Riverstone
Holdings LLC to exercise influence over matters requiring Board of
Directors and/or stockholder approval. Any such forward-looking
statements should be considered in light of such important factors
and in conjunction with Talen Energy's Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2015 and its other
reports on file with the SEC.
Media Contact: Todd Martin
570-542-2881
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visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/susquehanna-unit-2-shut-down-to-address-maintenance-issue-300337605.html
SOURCE Susquehanna Nuclear, LLC
