NRC: News Release - 2001-136 - NRC Approves Power Uprates for Dresden 2, 3 and Quad Cities 1, 2

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NRC NEWS U.S. NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION
Office of Public Affairs	Telephone: 301/415-8200
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No. 01-136

December 26, 2001

NRC APPROVES POWER UPRATES FOR DRESDEN 2, 3 AND QUAD CITIES 1, 2

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request by Exelon Generating Co. to increase the generating capacity of its Dresden 2 and 3 and Quad Cities 1 and 2 nuclear power plants.

The power uprate at Dresden 2 and 3, located near Morris, Illinois, will increase the power of each reactor by 17 percent to about 912 megawatts of electricity per unit. The power uprate at Quad Cities 1 and 2, located near Moline, Il., will increase the power of each reactor by 17.8 percent, to about 912 megawatts of electricity per unit.

The application for the increases was submitted to the NRC in December 2000. Exelon intends to implement the power uprate immediately for Dresden Unit 2. Uprates for the three other reactors will be implemented during outages scheduled for 2002 and 2003.

The NRC's safety evaluation of the requested power uprate for the units focused on several areas, including nuclear steam supply systems, instrumentation and control systems, electrical systems, accident evaluations, radiological consequences, operations and technical specification changes. The NRC staff determined that the licensee could safely increase the power output of the reactors with modifications to plant equipment and use of new fuel.