Operators safely shut down the Unit 2 reactor at the Susquehanna nuclear power plant near Berwick Saturday (3/15) to begin the unit's eighth refueling and maintenance outage.

The outage is expected to take about six weeks. About 40 percent of the unit's uranium fuel will be replaced, according to Herbert D. Woodeshick, Pennsylvania Power & Light Co.'s special assistant to the president for Susquehanna.

This outage will mark the beginning of a 24-month refueling cycle for Unit 2. Previously, the unit was refueled every 18 months.

The longer run cycle is made possible by using an improved fuel design with a higher energy content. The improved fuel design will increase the unit's availability and reduce operating costs while improving safety margins.

Unit 1 at the plant is expected to be converted to the 24- month cycle during its next refueling outage in spring 1998.

"Effective refueling and maintenance outages help achieve superior plant performance, enabling us to generate electricity safely and at a competitive cost," said Woodeshick. He noted that about 2,500 maintenance and work items are expected to be completed during the shutdown.

Since returning to service in October 1995 from its last refueling outage, Unit 2 generated about 12.7 million kilowatt-hours. A kilowatt-hour is the amount of electricity used by a 100-watt light bulb in 10 hours. An average PP&L residential customer uses about 10,000 kilowatt-hours per year.

Unit 2's capacity factor -- a measure of reliability that compares actual output to the amount of electricity that could be generated if a unit runs continuously at full power -- was 94 percent in the period since its last refueling. "That's an excellent capacity factor," said Woodeshick, "another indication of the good performance brought about by the hard work and dedication of plant employees."

The Susquehanna plant, in Luzerne County about five miles north of Berwick, is owned jointly by PP&L and the Allegheny Electric Cooperative.