Columbia Generating Station Enters Refueling Stage
After completing its second-longest operational run without refueling, the Columbia Generating Station (CGS) Reactor at Hanford has entered another maintenance phase.
The reactor disconnected from the power grid April 11th
The 56-day outage will see about 2,000 temporary workers join the existing workforce, as they perform refueling and maintenance tasks.
About one-third of the fuel assemblies (fuel rods) will be changed out, 256 total. Also, workers will perform thousands of routine maintenance tasks as well as some regular upgrades and servicing to the equipment.
Some motors, reactor drives and other equipment will also be refurbished or replaced.
The CGS ran for 662 days, or about a year and ten months since its last refueling phase, which is the second-longest in its history. During the refueling, the reactor will be disconnected, or unplugged, from the regular power supply grid.
The plant went operational 40 years ago, as part of the WPPSS (Washington Public Power Supply System) that built one reactor at Hanford.
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