Braidwood nuclear reactor down for refueling

BRACEVILLE, Ill. — Exelon Generation says one of two reactors at the company’s Braidwood Nuclear Generating Station is shut down for scheduled refueling and maintenance.

The Unit 1 outage began just after midnight on Monday. Exelon says about 2,000 technical workers will be in the area for about six weeks to replace one-third of the unit’s fuel and conduct inspections and maintenance.

The company won’t say how long the unit will be offline for competitive reasons. Unit 2 will continue to generate electricity.

The Will County plant is about 60 miles southwest of Chicago.

Exelon recently applied to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission for a 20-year license extension at Braidwood, which began commercial operation in 1988.

Exelon owns six nuclear plants in Illinois, with a total of 11 reactors — the most in any U.S. state.