PPL's Pa Susquehanna reactor up to 71 pct power
NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - PPL Corp's (PPL.N) 1,135-megawatt Susquehanna 1 nuclear power unit in Pennsylvania was at 71 percent power early Monday, up from just 38 percent of capacity early Friday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its power reactor status report.
The unit, in Berwick, Pennsylvania, about 125 miles northwest of Philadelphia, has been ramping up following an early March refueling and maintenance outage.
Meanwhile, the adjacent 1,140-MW Unit 2 continued to run at full power on Monday, the NRC report said.
One MW powers about 800 homes in Pennsylvania.
In January, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved PPL's request to increase the plant's total output by 205 MW. The company plans to implement the increase in phases between 2008 and 2010.
In September 2006, PPL filed for a 20-year extension of the units' original 40-year operating licenses.
It usually takes the NRC about 22 months (July 2008) to make a decision on a license renewal without a hearing and about 30 months (March 2009) with a hearing.
In 2008, PPL has said it plans to apply with the NRC for permission to build one of Areva's 1,600 MW Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR) at the site. PPL however has not yet decided to build a new reactor.
PPL has estimated the cost of the new reactor could reach $10 billion.
PPL's PPL Susquehanna LLC subsidiary operates the station for its owners: PPL (90 percent) and Allegheny Electric Cooperative Inc. (10 percent).
PPL, of Allentown, Pennsylvania, owns and operates more than 11,000 MW of generating capacity in the United States, markets energy commodities, and transmits and distributes electricity to more than 4 million customers in Pennsylvania and the United Kingdom. (Reporting by Eileen Moustakis; Editing by John Picinich)
