AEP: Cook Nuclear Unit May Not Return To Service Until 2010

[jpak]

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/djf500/200812011705DOWJONESDJONLINE000596_FORTUNE5.htm

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- American Electric Power Co. (AEP) said Monday the shutdown of a unit at its Cook nuclear power plant could stretch into 2010.

The Columbus, Ohio, power company said the unit could be partially back in service in September of next year, if a series of repairs are successful. The unit then would run at 75% to 90% of its full capacity until its next refueling outage, an AEP spokesman said.

But if the repairs are unsuccessful, the unit would be out of service into 2010, when it would return at full capacity, the company said.

Unit 1 at the Michigan plant went out of service Sept. 20 after vibrations cause a hydrogen leak resulting in a fire in the main generator. The unit's generation capacity is 1,030 megawatts.

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[TheWraith]

1. Sounds like the turbine was damaged, and they're having a hard time getting a proper replacement.

Still, over a year sounds like an awfully long time to get it replaced, even when you consider that it probably has to be custom built. Five bucks says that lack of trustworthy industrial capacity is a factor.