APS Ariz. Palo Verde 2 reactor starts to exit refuel

NEW YORK Dec 2 (Reuters) - Arizona Public Service's 1,314-megawatt Unit 2 at the Palo Verde nuclear power station in Arizona started to exit a refueling outage and ramped up to 2 percent power by early Wednesday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.

The unit shut by Oct. 5.

In addition to the usual refueling and maintenance activities, the company also replaced the unit's reactor vessel head during the outage.

The unit last shut for refueling from about March 29 to about June 6, 2008. It is on an 18-month refueling cycle.

Palo Verde is located in Wintersburg in Maricopa County about 50 miles west of Phoenix.

APS is a unit of Pinnacle West Capital Corp (PNW.N). (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich) ((scott.disavino@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 6072; Reuters Messaging: scott.disavino.reuters.com@reuters.net)) ((For help: Click "Contact Us" in your desk top, click here [HELP] or call 1-800-738-8377 for Reuters Products and +1-888-463-3383 for Thomson products; For client training: training.americas@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646-223-5546))