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

["Lavera, Ron" <Ron.Lavera@nypa.gov>]

Start looking for the "For Sale" signs !

...mine and mine alone ....


Ron LaVera
Lavera.r@nypa.gov

		-----Original Message-----
		From:	Sandy Perle [mailto:sandyfl@earthlink.net]
		Sent:	Tuesday, June 13, 2000 9:41 PM
		To:	Multiple recipients of list
		Subject:	NRC says AEP's Cook 2 Mich. nuke can restart

		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. 
	
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