Planned outage begins for La Salle nuclear plant

Operators at Exelon Generation’s La Salle Generating Station near Marseilles removed the Unit 1 generator from service Monday morning to begin a planned refueling outage.

During the outage, technicians will complete testing, maintenance and modifications that can only be done when the station is not generating electricity. La Salle Unit 2 will continue to operate at 100% power while Unit 1 is offline.

To support the work, the station will use the skill of more than 1,000 additional workers, many of whom travel to La Salle County from outside the area. For several months preceding and following the outage, the influx of workers provides a boost to the local economy.

“When the extra workers come to La Salle Station for the refueling outage, it means additional business for our community,” said Jeff Hettrick, executive director of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce, in a press statement. “Ottawa and La Salle County appreciate the additional workers who take advantage of all the services we have to offer, whether it’s our restaurants, hotels or shopping.”

At full power, the facility’s two reactors produce more than 2,200 megawatts of carbon-free electricity, enough to power 2.3 million typical homes.

“It is our goal here at La Salle Station to continue operating at world-class levels of safety and reliability,” said John Washko, LaSalle Generating Station site vice president, in a press statement. “The work completed during our refueling outages helps us meet that goal and enables us to power a cleaner and brighter future for the communities we serve.”