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STP RECORDS ITS BEST YEAR, BOTH UNITS IN TOP THREE IN U.S.
Jan. 9, 1997 -- Bay City, TX --The two
units of the South Texas Project Electric Generating Station each performed at record
levels in 1996, combining to generate about 20.7 billion net kilowatt-hours of
electricity. This was sufficient generation to meet all the electrical needs of 1.5
million Texas homes during the year.
Preliminary international and U.S. nuclear energy performance data indicates that STP Unit
2 ranks second in the U.S. and sixth in the world for electrical generation in 1996, while
STP Unit 1 ranks third in the U.S. and seventh in the world. There are 109 operating
nuclear plants in the U.S. and 435 world-wide.
As a result of the excellent operations performance coupled with various initiatives to
strategically trim the STP Operations & Maintenance budget, the plant also produced
power at the lowest rate in its eight-year history. Productions costs at STP for 1996 were
among the most inexpensive 10 percent among all U.S. nuclear plants. The 2,500-megawatt
STP plant is located 16 miles southeast of Bay City, Texas.
"The generation and performance records last year are especially gratifying when
coupled with the fact that we received our best-ever marks from the Nuclear Regulatory
Commission," said Bill Cottle, executive vice president and general manager, Nuclear.
"I’m extremely pleased with the world-class performance of our employees,
resulting in an exceptionally safe, reliable and efficient plant."
A number of other noteworthy records were set by the staff at STP in 1996.
•A world record was set at Unit 1 in June for the briefest refueling outage
duration--22.6 days--for Pressurized Water Reactor plants. This followed Unit 2’s
then-world record outage of 26.5 days set in November 1995. The median length of refueling
outages at U.S. nuclear plants in 1995 was 52 days.
•New records for the number of consecutive days on-line were established at both
units, with Unit 2 on-line for 309 consecutive days and Unit 1 on-line 205 consecutive
days as of December 31, 1996.
•New capability factors were set
at each unit and for the plant, with Unit 1 turning in a 92.8 percent factor while Unit 2
performed at 95.0 percent. Capability factor expresses the amount of energy a unit
actually produces in a given time period as a percentage of the maximum amount of energy
the unit was capable of producing in that time. The plant’s combined capability
factor was a record 93.9 percent.
•STP in 1996 received the highest assessment rating awarded by the Institute of
Nuclear Power Operations (INPO).
•STP in 1996 was awarded "Superior" marks in maintenance and plant support
and "Good" marks in operations and engineering in the latest Nuclear Regulatory
Commission’s Standard Assessment of Licensee Performance (SALP). This is the highest
rating the regulatory agency has ever assigned STP. |