NRC says AEP's Cook 2 Mich. nuke can restart

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

NRC says AEP's Cook 2 Mich. nuke can restart
  
NEW YORK, June 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory 
Commission (NRC) said Tuesday AEP's Cook 2 nuclear reactor 
was clear to restart, putting in place the final approval needed to 
end an outage that has idled the plant since September 1997. 

"The (NRC) staff has determined that the performance 
improvements and plant modifications at the...Cook Nuclear Power 
Station are sufficient for Unit 2 at the plant to resume operations," 
the commission said in a statement. 

The facility, near Bridgman, Mich., is operated by American 
Electric Power Co. <AEP.N>. It was shut for extensive upgrades to 
address safety concerns related to the plant's design. 

Cook Unit 2 has a generation capacity of 1,090 megawatts (MW) 
and is a major source of electricity in the upper Midwest. 

AEP, based in Columbus, Ohio, reactivated the unit's reactor last 
week after receiving preliminary approval from the NRC to proceed 
with plans to put the unit back in service. 

"The utility is completing its final preparations for restart. NRC 
inspectors will be monitoring the Unit 2 startup on a round-the-
clock basis until the plant is operating routinely," the commission 
said. 

AEP, reacting to the NRC approval, said it plans to restart Cook 2 
as soon as its staff completes a final review of the plant's systems 
and equipment. 

"Once the reactor...reaches about 9 percent power, the output of 
the generator will be connected to the AEP transmission grid. An 
ascension to full power includes several hold points for additional 
system checks and tests, and is expected to take an additional 10 
days," the company said in a statement. 

AEP cautioned that putting Cook 2 back on the grid could be slowed by problems arising from such a lengthy outage, but added that it is "still expected to be at full power for the peak summer demand." 

Upgrade work is still underway at the adjacent Cook Unit 1, which 
is rated at 1,020 MW. 

"After Unit 2 is returned to service, AEP will enter a planning period 
to establish the final restart schedule for   Unit 1," the company 
said. 

AEP has earlier said it aims to have Cook 1 back on line Sept. 1, 
2000. 
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
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