PG&E Calif. Diablo Canyon 1 reactor back at full

NEW YORK Oct 19 (Reuters) - PG&E Corp's (PCG.N) 1,118-megawatt Unit 1 at the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant in California returned to full power by early Monday from 50 percent early Friday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.

The company reduced the unit output to clean debris from the cooling water system following a storm.

The 2,240 MW Diablo Canyon station is located in Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County about 195 miles northwest of Los Angeles. The station has two units, the 1,122 MW Unit 1 and the 1,118 MW Unit 2, which entered service in 1985 and 1986.

Unit 2 shut by Oct. 5 for refueling and maintenance and will likely return in early November.

Unit 2 last shut for refueling from about Feb. 3-April 14, 2008. It is on a 20-22 month refueling cycle.

One MW powers about 700 homes in California.

PG&E, of San Francisco, owns and operates more than 6,200 MW of generating capacity, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes electricity to almost 5.3 million customers and natural gas to 4.2 million customers in California. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich)