There will be at least 900 new visitors to the region over the next couple of months as the Cook Nuclear Plant launches its 25th refueling outage this Saturday, April 17th at 3am on the plant’s Unit 2.
Indiana Michigan Power’s Cook Nuclear Plant Unit 2 will at that hour begin the major refueling outage. To prepared for that outage, power on Unit 2 will be reduced in the days prior in order to allow for equipment testing before the actual outage begins. The unit will have operated for 11,987.55 hours during its last cycle at a capacity factor of 98.3-percent, generating 14,181,471 megawatt-hours of electricity.
Cook Unit 1 remains at 100-percent operation, and power to customers is not expected to be disrupted by the planned Unit 2 outage.
In addition to refueling the reactor and performing regular maintenance and testing work, the outage will also include:
- Inspection of the reactor vessel’s lower support column
- Improvements to numerous air-operated valve actuators
- A fire detection system upgrade
- A project to install improved video display units in the Control Room for the plant’s operators
Nearly 900 contracted workers will supplement the regular 1,000-person plant staff leading up to and during the outage. More than 10,470 maintenance, inspection and equipment modification job activities totaling 155,000 work-hours are scheduled for two daily 12-hour work shifts.
As with its Unit 1 outage last fall, Cook is once again implementing increased COVID-19 safety measures to protect the health and safety of employees, outage contract workers and the community.
Joel Gebbie, American Electric Power’s Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer, says, “While we’re seeing the light at the end of the pandemic tunnel as a nation, we’re definitely not there yet,” and adds, “The recent spike in COVID cases around our state and even here in Berrien County provides plenty of reason to maintain our rigorous site protection standards. In fact, as part of the effort to keep our workforce safe, Cook Plant recently partnered with the Berrien County Health Department to provide an on-site vaccination opportunity where nearly 600 badged site workers and their family members received COVID-19 vaccinations.”
In addition to the on-site vaccinations, Cook Plant has continued its ongoing outage COVID-19 preparedness plan which was implemented a year ago and fortified in the months since the pandemic began. The plan includes:
- Rapid COVID-19 testing capabilities for on-site trace testing, if needed
- A self-screening protocol, including mandatory temperature checks for all personnel prior to entering the site’s protected area
- A strict policy for face covering and social distancing
- Sanitizing stations throughout the site for access to wipes, hand sanitizer and other cleaning supplies
- Limited capacity in meeting rooms, elevators and other gathering spaces in order to maintain 6 feet of distancing
- Suspension of the plant cafeteria
- Plexiglas barriers at tables and other personal break area spaces to allow workers to rest and remove their masks safely
- Installation of several temporary buildings and conversion of non-traditional spaces to allow additional room for the workforce to be spread out
- Additional outdoor break spaces, many of which include oversized picnic tables that allow for full social distancing
Cook Nuclear Plant is owned and operated by Indiana Michigan Power, an AEP company, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana. At full capacity, the 1,084-net MW Unit 1 and 1,194-net MW Unit 2 combined produce enough electricity for more than one and one half million average homes.
For more information you can visit http://www.indianamichiganpower.com or http://www.cookinfo.com.
