Talen Energy’s Susquehanna Nuclear sent 20,561 GWhrs of electricity to the grid in 2015, the highest power production to come from Susquehanna’s dual unit Boiling Water Reactors in the Station’s 33 year history, reported Susquehanna Senior Engineer Jim Hennings in a recent update to the Station.

“The previous production record of 19,492 GWhrs was set in 2009,” said Jim.

Several factors contributed to the Utilities Service Alliance (USA) member station’s generation success in 2015. The Extended Power Uprate project, which safely increased the amount of power which could be generated by each operating unit and was completed in the 2009-2010 timeframe, helped increase power production at the Station.

The Station also experienced success in arresting the Turbine Blade Root Cracking issue on its Low Pressure Turbines, allowing the units to continue to generate power as designed. From 2010 through 2014, Susquehanna prudently shut down its units on a regular basis to evaluate turbine blades—and replace them if they showed indications of cracking. Susquehanna took its units offline several times over the course of four years to conduct these critical inspections.

“Susquehanna Station has worked diligently over the past several years to incorporate best practices from nuclear stations across the country into their own processes,” said Chief Nuclear Officer Tim Rausch. “Having set a generation record in 2015 underscores how safe behaviors, conservative decision-making and event-free work attitudes bring well-deserved success to Team Susquehanna.”

Year-end production of 20,561 GWhrs exceeded 2015’s projection by 821 GWhrs. Unit 1 exceeded its 2015 goal by 329 GWhrs while Unit 2 exceeded its goal by 491 GWhrs.

Congratulations, Team Susquehanna, on this outstanding industry achievement.