Byron Sets U.S. Operating Record

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

WAY TO GO!!!!!!!!!

Thursday March 11, 10:02 am Eastern Time

Company Press Release

SOURCE: Unicom Corporation

Sets U.S. Operating Record

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., March 11 /PRNewswire/ -- ComEd's 
Byron Nuclear Power Station set a new United States record today 
for continuous dual operation of its two Westinghouse turbine-
generator systems.  

Byron recorded the feat when its Unit 1 and Unit 2 reactors marked 
297 continuous days of service. Unit 1 has actually been on-line for 
367 days. The 297 days surpasses the record set by Southern 
Nuclear's Farley Units 1 and 2 in 1998. The Farley Units are 
located in Dothan, Ala.  

Both Byron units are scheduled to operate until late March when 
Unit 1 will shut down for a scheduled refueling outage.

Gene Stanley, ComEd's Nuclear Generation Group vice president 
of Pressurized Water Reactors called the record significant in that 
it is another signal that the ComEd units are on the way to being a 
``top performing nuclear fleet ... this is a direct result of consistent 
operations and a plant management team and work force that has 
focused on maintaining good material condition and is striving for 
excellence,'' said Stanley.  

``I'm proud of the way our employees have worked together as a 
team to accomplish this,'' said Bill Levis, Byron site vice president. 
``An achievement like this is a real motivator going into a refueling 
outage. Along with refueling, we'll be completing other critical 
maintenance work that will prepare us to run at full power through 
the hot summer months.''  

Establishing this milestone is not a first for Byron Station. 
Westinghouse records show that Byron set U.S. records for 
continuous dual unit runs in 1990 (175 days), 1991 (258 days) and 
1994 (289 days). No other U.S. plant has achieved this feat four 
times.  

This dual unit operating record is the fifth major accomplishment 
during recent months for the ComEd nuclear fleet. Last month, 
Dresden Station completed a refueling outage in a ComEd-record 
26 days and last December, Quad Cities Station performed a 
similar outage in 28 days. Braidwood Station last November 
completed a world record 70-day steam generator replacement and 
refueling outage. Finally, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission 
recently praised ComEd for its Y2K efforts during an audit 
conducted by the agency in January.  

Byron Station is located just outside Byron, Ill., approximately 25 
miles southwest of Rockford. The station employs about 850 
people. 

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
the mouth, is to close it again on something solid"
              - G. K. Chesterton -
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