Clinton, Ill., nuke restart seen by end-April, May

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

Thursday April 15, 12:37 pm Eastern Time

Clinton, Ill., nuke restart seen by end-April, May

NEW YORK, April 15 (Reuters) - The 950 megawatt Clinton 
nuclear power plant is slated to resume service in late April or early-
May, in line with its earlier restart schedule, the plant's current 
operators said Thursday.  

The unit, in Clinton, Ill., has been shut since September 1996 for 
extensive safety upgrades.

``We have been achieving readiness milestones. We see restart of 
the plant near the end of April or early May,'' AmerGen chief 
executive officer Dick Smith told a news conference called to 
discuss AmerGen's agreement to buy the defueled plant from 
Illinois Power Co.  

Illinois Power, with headquarters in Decatur, Ill., is a subsidiary of 
Illinova Corp (NYSE:ILN - news).

AmerGen, a 50-50 venture between Philadelphia-based PECO 
Energy Co (NYSE:PE - news) and British Energy Inc. (quote from 
Yahoo! UK & Ireland: BGY.L), said it would pay $20 million for the 
11-year-old facility.  

The sale, pending regulatory approval, is expected to close by the 
end of the year, the companies said.

According to the terms of the deal, PECO will continue as Clinton's 
operator and assume capital expenses at the facility retroactively 
to April 1, 1999.  

PECO has been operating the plant under contract to Illinois Power 
since January 1998.

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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