Kansas Wolf Creek reactor shut

NEW YORK, March 18 (Reuters) - Wolf Creek Nuclear Operating Corp's 1,166-megawatt Wolf Creek nuclear power station in Kansas shut by early Tuesday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.

On Monday, the unit was operating at full power.

In January, the company said it planned to shut the unit for a planned month-long refueling on about March 22.

Electricity traders guessed the company shut the unit for the refueling.

The unit last shut for refueling from Oct. 7-Nov. 13, 2006. It is on an 18-month refueling outage.

The Wolf Creek station, which entered service in 1985, is located in Burlington in Coffey County about 70 miles south of Topeka, the state capital.

One MW powers 800 homes in Kansas.

In September 2006, the operating company filed with the NRC for a 20-year extension of the unit's original 40-year operating license.

The NRC expects to make a decision on the application in November 2008 if it does not grant a hearing on the license renewal.

Wolf Creek is owned by Great Plains Energy Inc's (GXP.N) Kansas City Power & Light (47 percent), Westar Energy Inc (WR.N) (47 percent) and Kansas Electric Power Cooperative Inc (6 percent). (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich)