NRC OKs power uprates for four Exelon nuclear units

SAN FRANCISCO, Dec 26 (Reuters) - The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)

said on Wednesday it had approved a request by Exelon Generating Co. to increase

the generating capacity of four of its nuclear units at two sites in Illinois.

Exelon Generating Co. is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corp. <EXC.N>, the owner

of the largest fleet of U.S. nuclear power plants.

The power uprates at Dresden 2 and 3, located near Morris, Illinois, will increase the

power of each reactor by 17 percent to about 912 megawatts (MW) of electricity per

unit, the NRC said in a statement.

The power uprates at Quad Cities 1 and 2, located near Moline, Illinois, will increase

the power of each reactor by 17.8 percent, or to about 912 MW of electricity per unit.

The application for the increases was submitted to the NRC in December 2000.

According to the statement, Exelon intends to implement the power uprate

immediately for Dresden Unit 2, while uprates for the three other reactors will be

implemented during scheduled outages in 2002 and 2003.

The NRC staff determined that the licensee could safely increase the power output of

the reactors with modifications to plant equipment and use of new fuel, it added.

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