U.S. Nuclear Output Rises on FirstEnergy Boosts in Pennsylvania

U.S. nuclear-power output rose for a third day as plants in Alabama and Pennsylvania boosted energy production, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission said.

Power generation nationwide increased 514 megawatts, or 0.7 percent, from yesterday to 77,568 megawatts, or 76 percent of capacity, according to an NRC report today and data compiled by Bloomberg. Twenty-four of the nation’s 104 reactors were offline.

FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) boosted Beaver Valley Unit 1 to 100 percent of capacity from 82 percent yesterday, the report showed. FirstEnergy increased output at Unit 2 to 87 percent from 61 percent. Each reactor can produce 940 megawatts at the plant, which is located about 26 miles (42 kilometers) northwest of Pittsburgh.

The Tennessee Valley Authority boosted output from the 1,104-megawatt Browns Ferry 2 reactor in Alabama to 98 percent of capacity from 82 percent yesterday.

Browns Ferry Units 1 and 3, which have respective capacities of 1,065 megawatts and 1,115 megawatts, are operating at full power. The plant is located 84 miles north of Birmingham on Wheeler Lake, near the Tennessee border.

Scana Corp. (SCG) slowed the 966-megawatt Virgil C. Summer reactor in South Carolina to 85 percent of capacity from 100 percent yesterday. The plant is located near Jenkinsville, about 26 miles northwest of Columbia.

Some reactors close for maintenance and refueling during the spring and fall in the U.S., when demand for heating and cooling is lower. The outages can increase consumption of natural gas and coal to generate electricity.

The average U.S. reactor refueling outage lasted 41 days in 2009, according to the Nuclear Energy Institute.

To contact the reporter on this story: Colin McClelland in Toronto at cmcclelland1@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Dan Stets at dstets@bloomberg.net.