Diablo Canyon Power Plant Taken Off-Line

Plant Shut Down For Scheduled Refueling

AVILA BEACH, Calif., 3:12 a.m. EDT April 30, 2001 -- An 1,100-megawatt unit at Pacific Gas and Electric's Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant went off-line Sunday for scheduled refueling. The unit produces enough electricity to power 825,000 homes and will be off-line for about 35 days.

A PG&E spokesman says that the unit -- one of two at the plant -- began reducing power output Saturday and shut down early Sunday morning.

The utility says that shutting down now will help the unit meet high demand come summer.

Meanwhile, mild temperatures statewide kept electricity demand below forecast levels and the state remains free of any power alerts.

A minor outage cut power to about 3,000 PG&E customers in San Francisco on Sunday. A utility spokesman says that the outage was caused by an equipment problem and power was restored about 12:30 p.m.

http://www.thekcrachannel.com/sh/news/california/stories/news-california-74590020010429-200437.html

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), April 30, 2001