USA fleet member Columbia Generating Station surpassed its all-time best record of 505 continuous days on-line, on November 13 at 1:47 a.m.

The current run began after the plant was re-started following Columbia’s 2013 refueling and maintenance outage, which ended June 25, 2013. Columbia’s next refueling outage is scheduled to begin May 9.

“This record is attributable to the organization’s alignment around operational excellence,” said Brad Sawatzke, vice president, Nuclear Generation and chief nuclear officer. “From Operations to Maintenance to Engineering and all the support teams, we’ve had tremendous focus on operating safely and at a high performance level.”

Columbia this month marked five years without an unplanned shut-down. Employees and contractors also recently surpassed 13 million hours worked without a lost-time accident.

“I am very proud of the team for this achievement and continued pursuit of performance excellence,” said Mark Reddemann, Energy Northwest CEO.

Columbia will commemorate 30 years of commercial operation December 13.