Callaway plant comes back online

After workers perform refueling and maintenance

FULTON, Mo. - Ameren Missouri's nuclear generating plant at the Callaway Energy Center returned to service Friday at 6:46 am., after completing a routine refueling and maintenance outage that began Oct. 15. The 1,190-megawatt plant began generating electricity again.

Refueling outages at the facility occur every 18 months. This was the plant's 18th refueling since it began operating in 1984.

"During Refuel 18 we were able to do important inspections and maintenance to ensure that our team can safely run Callaway during the next cycle," said Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer Adam Heflin. "Our Callaway team and our supplemental personnel kept a constant focus on industrial, radiological and nuclear safety which ultimately leads to a successful outage,"

During this refueling, operators replaced 84 of the 193 fuel assemblies in the reactor core.  Each fuel assembly is an 8.5-inch-square bundle of 12-foot-long metal tubes containing ceramic pellets of uranium dioxide fuel.

In addition to the refueling, more than 7,500 maintenance activities, inspections and tests were performed, the company reported. More than 1,000 supplemental workers, supplied by 30 contractors, joined Callaway's regular work force of about 800 employees to help accomplish the wide range of tasks.

The Callaway Energy Center typically generates about 20 percent of the electricity supplied to Ameren Missouri's 1.2 million customers. Each Callaway refueling outage is scheduled to take place in either spring or fall, when electricity usage is low due to the mild weather, and ample replacement power is available from other plants.