PG&E Corp's 1,150-megawatt Diablo Canyon Unit 1 nuclear reactor Friday afternoon was ramping down to shut for "several days" as a steam stop valve is repaired, a company spokesman said. The unit was shut for "repairs on a steam stop valve on the unit's high pressure turbine," said PG&E's Sharon Gavin.
"We noticed the problem on (Thursday) morning. This (Friday) morning, an operational decision was made to shut Unit 1 down to repair the valve." Gavin said workers will work around-the-clock until the repairs are made and the unit can return to production. It will take "several days" before it can reach full output, she said.
She could not say whether Unit 1 would be restarted by the time of Monday's peak demand for power in California, in the afternoon. California's temperatures are expected to rise sharply on Monday, spiking demand for power to run air conditioners.
Unit 2 at the same plant was fully operational, Gavin said. Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is located in Avila Beach in San Luis Obispo County, about 195 miles north-west of Los Angeles. There are two 1,150-MW units which entered service in 1985 and 1986. One MW powers about 700 homes in PG&E's service area of central and Northern California.
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