Duke Energy:Oconee Nuclear Station Establishes New Reliability Record

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

Duke Energy:Oconee Nuclear Station Establishes New Reliability Record
  
SENECA, S.C., Dec. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Duke Energy's Oconee Nuclear 
Station has set a new record for providing safe, reliable electricity 
to the Piedmont Carolinas.  The station has been operated by Duke 
Power for 27 years. 

The station that already has generated more energy than any other 
nuclear facility in the country saw all three of its units operate 
simultaneously for 179 consecutive days, smashing the station's old 
record of 126 days set in 1995.  The Nuclear Energy Institute, which 
tracks nuclear industry performance, could find no other three-unit 
station in the country that had put together a more impressive run.  
Oconee concluded its record-breaking performance Nov. 23, when unit 1 
was taken out of service for a regularly scheduled refueling outage. 

Oconee, which earlier this year became just the second nuclear 
station to have its licenses extended for an additional 20 years, has 
put together an impressive two-year run.  In 1999, the power plant 
generated nearly 20 million megawatt-hours of electricity, its 
highest output since 1993. 

Prior to coming offline for refueling, unit 1 had been operating for 
261 consecutive days.  Unit 2 has been operating for 357 days and 
unit 3 has been cranking out power for 205 straight days. 

"These performances are the result of solid planning and the 
excellent day-to-day performance of our employees," said William R. 
McCollum Jr., Oconee site vice president.  "While we are pleased with 
our recent accomplishments, we feel we must continue to improve.  Our 
industry has made great strides in efficiency and reliability in 
recent years, and our goal is to be at the forefront of those 
efforts." 

------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sandy Perle					Tel:(714) 545-0100 / (800) 548-5100   				    	
Director, Technical				Extension 2306 				     	
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Service		Fax:(714) 668-3149 	                   		    
ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc.			E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 				                           
ICN Plaza, 3300 Hyland Avenue  		E-Mail: sperle@icnpharm.com          	          
Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Personal Website: http://sandyfl.nukeworker.net
ICN Worldwide Dosimetry Website: http://www.dosimetry.com

************************************************************************
The RADSAFE Frequently Asked Questions list, archives and subscription
information can be accessed at http://www.ehs.uiuc.edu/~rad/radsafe.html