U.S. nuclear production rises on gains in Illinois, Georgia

U.S. nuclear-power production rose 1 percent as operators boosted reactors in Illinois, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

Power generation nationwide increased 776 megawatts from yesterday to 76,730 megawatts, or 76 percent of capacity, according to an NRC report today and data compiled by Bloomberg. Twenty-six of the nation's 104 reactors were offline.

Exelon Corp. boosted the 882-megawatt Quad Cities 2 reactor on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River to 100 percent of capacity from 85 percent yesterday. Another unit at the site, the 882-megawatt Quad Cities 1, is shut. The plant is located about 20 miles (32 kilometers) northeast of Moline.

Southern Co. increased output at the 883-megawatt Edwin I. Hatch 2 reactor in Georgia to 88 percent of capacity from 55 percent yesterday. The unit started on May 9 after it was shut for repairs to the feedwater system on May 5.

Another unit at the site, the 876-megawatt Hatch 1, was operating at full power. The plant is located about 74 miles west of Savannah.

NextEra Energy Inc. raised power from the 693-megawatt Turkey Point 4 Reactor in Florida to 41 percent of capacity from 4 percent yesterday. The reactor was shut for refueling and maintenance from March 21 to May 2, then closed again on May 6. The plant is located about 20 miles south of Miami.

Turkey Point 3 is operating at full power.

Entergy Reactor

Entergy Corp. boosted the 1,157-megawatt Waterford 3 reactor to full power from 75 percent of capacity yesterday. It returned from a refueling and maintenance stoppage that began April 6.

Waterford is on the Mississippi River about 25 miles west of downtown New Orleans.

PPL Corp. shut the 1,149-megawatt Susquehanna 1 reactor in Pennsylvania. The 1,140-megawatt Susquehanna 2 unit is also closed. The plant is located in Luzerne County, 50 miles northwest of Allentown.

Exelon boosted the 1,152-megawatt Braidwood 2 reactor in Illinois to 93 percent of capacity from 83 percent yesterday after a refueling outage from April 18 to May 12.

Another reactor on the plant 54 miles southwest of Chicago, the 1,178-megawatt Braidwood 1 unit, is operating at full power.

Exelon increased power from the 1,164-megawatt Byron 1 reactor in Illinois to full power from 92 percent of capacity yesterday. The unit returned on April 25 from a refueling and maintenance outage. Another unit at the plant 85 miles west of Chicago, the 1,136-megawatt Byron 2, is operating at full capacity.

Some reactors are closed for maintenance and refueling during the spring and fall in the U.S., when demand for heating and cooling is lower. The outages can increase consumption of natural gas and coal to generate electricity.

The average U.S. reactor refueling outage lasted 41 days in 2009, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.