COVID-19 Threatens Outages Scheduled at 97% of U.S. Nuclear Sites in 2020

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Challenged by the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. nuclear industry has asked the Trump administration to ensure nuclear workers, suppliers, and vendors will have access to nuclear plants and personal protective equipment (PPE) during the 2020 spring and fall refueling outage seasons and beyond. All but two of the nation's nuclear sites had scheduled planned outages this year, work that the generators consider crucial to keep the lights on.

In a March 20 letter to Energy Secretary Dan Brouillette, Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) President and CEO Maria Korsnick noted nuclear reactors have a "unique requirement" to load a fresh batch of fuel once every 18 to 24 months. The event necessitates a shut down for two to four weeks during which intense work occurs, including critical maintenance.

"Each plant typically brings in several hundred specialized workers for this work over a typical period of 30-60 days, which includes activities in advance of and following the outage. These workers typically stay in hotels or board with local families, and eat in restaurants," Korsnick wrote. In the course of performing outages and in routine operations, nuclear plant workers also use PPE and supplies for radiological protection. As the COVID-19 pandemic intensifies, the industry will also require medical PPE and supplies to minimize its spread, she said.

Asked on March 26 whether the Trump administration has responded, and any immediate action can be anticipated, the NEI told POWER: "We continue to work with the Administration to address how best to support the industry and our workforce during this time. We know that nuclear power plant operation and continued electricity is critical to powering our hospitals and keeping the lights on in our homes and emergency centers."

Planned Nuclear Refueling Outages in 2020

As the EIA notes, the U.S. has 58 commercially operating nuclear power plants with 96 nuclear reactors in 29 U.S. states. Of these nuclear plants, 32 plants have two reactors and 3 plants have three reactors. In 2020, some reactors at 56 of the nation's 58 nuclear sites in 21 states-including several that have issued lockdown measures-planned to undergo refueling outages. At least 31 of the 58 sites had scheduled outages between mid-February and early May. The remaining 25 planned refueling outages between late August and late October.

The average U.S. refueling outage times have shortened in recent years-decreasing from an average of 46 days in 2012 to 32 days in 2019-owing in part to improved and planning and execution practices for refueling outages over the years, NEI told POWER. Of significant note is that the 2020 season is poised to be especially busy in part because planned nuclear generation outages are generally timed to coincide with a plant's refueling cycle, it said.

Table. Expected U.S. Nuclear Plant Refueling Outages in 2020. Courtesy: NEI

	Plant	City	State	Company	Approx. Start
1	Browns Ferry	Athens	AL	Tennessee Valley Authority	Mid February
2	Grand Gulf	Port Gibson	MS	Entergy	Mid February
3	Brunswick	Southport	NC	Duke Energy Progress	late February
4	Davis Besse	Oak Harbor	OH	First Energy	Late February
5	Byron	Byron	IL	Exelon	Early March
6	Nine Mile	Oswego	NY	Exelon	Early March
7	Vogtle	Augusta	GA	Southern Nuclear Operating Co.	Early March
8	South Texas Project	Wadsworth	TX	STP Nuclear Operating Co.	Early March
9	Arkansas Nuclear One	Russellville	AR	Entergy	Early March
10	Point Beach	Two Rivers	WI	NextEra (FPL)	Early March
11	Salem	Hancocks Bridge	NJ	PSEG	Early March
12	Fermi	Frenchtown Charter Twp.	MI	DTE Energy	Mid March
13	McGuire	Huntersville	NC	Duke Energy	Mid March
14	Susquehanna	Berwick	PA	Talen Energy	Mid March
15	Sequoyah	Soddy Daisy	TN	Tennessee Valley Authority	Late March
16	Beaver Valley	Shippingport	PA	FirstEnergy	Late March
17	Limerick	Pottstown	PA	Exelon	Late March
18	Quad Cities	Cordova	IL	Exelon	Late March
19	Turkey Point	Florida City	FL	Florida Power & Light	Late March
20	Seabrook	Seabrook	NH	NextEra Energy	Early April
21	Salem	Hancocks Bridge	NJ	PSEG	Early April
22	Palo Verde	Tonopah	AZ	Arizona Public Service Company	Early April
23	Comanche Peak	Glen Rose	TX	Luminant	Early April
24	Ginna	Ontario	NY	Exelon	Early April
25	Oconee	Seneca	SC	Duke Energy	Early April
26	VC Summer	Jenkinsville	SC	Dominion Energy	Early April
27	Millstone	Waterford	CT	Dominion Energy	Early April
28	Braidwood	Braceville	IL	Exelon	Mid April
29	Watts Bar	Spring City	TN	Tennessee Valley Authority	Mid April
30	Catawba	York	SC	Duke Energy	Early May
31	Surry	Surry	VA	Dominion Energy	Early May
32	Indian Point	Buchanan	NY	Entergy	Early May
33	Palisades	Covert	MI	Entergy	Late August
34	North Anna	Mineral	VA	Dominion Energy	Early September
35	Robinson	Hartsville	SC	Duke Energy Progress	Early September
36	Vogtle	Augusta	GA	Southern Nuclear Operating Co.	Early September
37	Fitzpatrick	Oswego	NY	Exelon	Early September
38	Prairie Island	Welch	MN	Northern States Power	Early September
39	DC Cook	Bridgman	MI	AEP	Mid September
40	McGuire	Huntersville	NC	Duke Energy	Mid September
41	Cooper	Brownville	NE	Nebraska Public Power District	Mid September
42	Waterford	Killona	LA	Entergy	Mid September
43	Point Beach	Two Rivers	WI	NextEra (FPL)	Early October
44	Salem	Hancocks Bridge	NJ	PSEG	Early October
45	Palo Verde	Tonopah	AZ	Arizona Public Service Company	Early October
46	Browns Ferry	Athens	AL	Tennessee Valley Authority	Early October
47	Diablo Canyon	Avila Beach	CA	Pacific Gas & Electric	Early October
48	Callaway	Fulton	MO	Ameren	Early October
49	Byron	Byron	IL	Exelon	Early October
50	Turkey Point	Florida City	FL	Florida Power & Light	Early October
51	Farley	Dothan	AL	Southern Nuclear Operating Co.	Early October
52	Comanche Peak	Glen Rose	TX	Luminant	Early October
53	Peach Bottom	Delta	PA	Exelon	Mid October
54	Millstone	Waterford	CT	Dominion Energy	Mid October
55	Watts Bar	Spring City	TN	Tennessee Valley Authority	Mid October
56	Duane Arnold	Palo	IA	NextEra Energy	Late October

As of March 25, according to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), 13 of the U.S.'s 96 commercial nuclear reactors were offline for refueling outages: Indian Point 3, Nine Mile Point 1, Susquehanna 2, Browns Ferry 2, Brunswick 2, McGuire 1, North Anna 2, Turkey Point 4, Vogtle 2, D.C. Cook 1, Perry 1, Point Beach 1, and Quad Cities 1. At least five others were coasting down in preparation for refueling outages: Limerick 2, Salem 1, Byron 2, Monticello, and Comanche Peak 1.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA), which compiles data from the NRC into a useful interactive map that shows the status of U.S. nuclear outages, noted that 16.9% of total U.S. nuclear capacity-about 17 GW of the total 100 GW-was offline as of March 25.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) provides a useful interactive graphic that shows the current and historic status of U.S. nuclear capacity and outages. This graphic is from March 25, as the industry prepared for several refueling outages scheduled for this spring. According to this data, nuclear plants that were in full outage mode are: Grand Gulf in Mississippi, Fermi in Michigan, and Davis Besse in Ohio, while Harris in North Carolina was operating at only 8%. Source: EIAA Compounding Crisis

The NEI said that across the nuclear fleet precautions are being taken to limit the risks of COVID-19. Among the actions are:

• Directing employees who don't feel well to stay home, encouraging them to seek medical attention, and asking for a report on their condition;
• Excluding personnel who have recently been in countries impacted by the virus;
• Screening of employees, contractors, and any necessary visitors at the plant gate and, at some
  plants, taking their temperature;
• Disinfecting surfaces more often;
• Closing or limiting access to cafeterias and other places employees congregate; and
• Increasing the number of hand-washing facilities.

Because refueling outages are so critical to the safe and reliable operations of nuclear power plants, the Trump administration should consider several actions that would immediately benefit nuclear owners, operators, and vendors, Korsnick said.

For one, she urged Brouillette to ensure that federal designation of essential workers include workers that support nuclear operations. The Trump administration's March 19-issued initial list of "essential critical infrastructure workers" broadly includes "workers needed for safe and secure operations at nuclear generation," but it does not specify whether the extensive list of specialized contract workers needed for outage work are qualified.

Korsnick also urged the administration to allow "unfettered" travel to plants for the performance of essential outage activities. Noting that the workforce is sometimes sourced abroad, she also asked it to "permit international workers who perform highly specialized functions to travel into the U.S. and establish protocols immediately to enable their safe entry."

To accommodate workers, she also urged the administration to keep open hotel and food services. Finally, she asked for priority for PPE, specifically asking for surgeons' gloves, sanitized wipes, dust masks, and disposable thermometers-as well as COVID-19 testing kits, and necessary radiological and medical protective equipment and supplies for nuclear workers.

A Generator's Perspective

At Exelon Generation-which embarked on refueling outages at Byron 1 on March 9, Nine Mile Point 2 on March 5, Calvert Cliffs 1 on Feb. 17, and LaSalle 1 on Feb. 10-work appears to continue as scheduled. "Exelon Generation's highly trained nuclear employees and skilled contractors understand the critical role that Exelon Generation's nuclear facilities play in powering hospitals, regional response centers and millions of homes and essential businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic-and they are prepared to meet the challenge," the company told POWER on March 26.

The work is crucial because the company's nuclear facilities run at full power more than 95% of the time and its fixed fuel contracts allow it to operate a unit between 18 months and two years without stopping to refuel, it explained.

At Byron 1 in Illinois, more than 1,200 supplemental workers joined the 800 Exelon Generation employees in prepping the facility for another reliable run, the company said. Workers arrived several weeks before the outage and some will remain when it is complete. At Nine Mile 1 in New York, 1,300 workers arrived onsite "from outside the area." About 1,000 additional workers were onsite at Calvert Cliffs 1 in Maryland, and another 1,000 workers went to LaSalle 1 southwest of Chicago.

"We are closely following CDC guidance at all our generating facilities to prevent the spread of germs and viruses. We are also limiting travel; minimizing personal contact; encouraging remote-enabled employees to work from home, encouraging frequent hand washing and scheduling additional facility cleanings," Exelon said.

However, it is also working to ensure employees and contractors supporting the projects "are subject to additional precautions due to the number of people required to support refueling outage and maintenance activities."

Exelon said that prior to entry, "each person must complete a rigorous self-screening for signs of fever or respiratory issues before reporting to work. Any employees and contractors that experience any flu-like symptoms, are being instructed not to enter our facilities and to seek offsite medical evaluation. We also have medical professionals staffing our outage facilities around-the-clock to closely monitor employee health."

Sourcing outage workers, which can pose a challenge even during ordinary outage seasons, has this year especially benefitted from employee determination, the company suggested. "Our employees understand the importance of providing reliable, baseload, carbon-free energy to the community, and are rallying to support our stations and take additional precautions to protect themselves, along with their coworkers, families and communities." Exelon, meanwhile, is doing all it can to ensure work goes on, underscoring its role as a provider of critical resources. "We have robust plans and contingencies to ensure business continuity," it said.

-Sonal Patelis a POWER senior associate editor (@sonalcpatel,@POWERmagazine).

Updated (March 27): Adds comments from NEI and Exelon Generation.

Clarification (March 30): Work is scheduled at 56 of the 58 nuclear sites in the U.S., not 97% of the total nuclear fleet. This is an important clarification because there are 58 commercially operating nuclear power plants with 96 nuclear reactors in 29 U.S. states. Of these nuclear plants, 32 plants have two reactors and 3 plants have three reactors. To reflect this clarification, the headline changes "plants" to "sites."

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