The old record was 23 days, 4 minutes set in November 2000 by Tennessee Valley Authority’s Sequoyah Unit 2.

The collective dose of 74.959 rem is also the lowest in the industry for an ice condenser plant.

The Catawba refueling was Duke Power’s best-ever, eclipsing the old mark of 29 days set by Catawba unit 2 in 2000.  

The outage included a bare-metal inspection of the reactor vessel head, which shows no sign of leakage or corrosion. Duke Power has performed similar inspections during its other refuelings at McGuire unit 2 and Oconee unit 1 this spring.

“These outage improvements are the result of effective planning, detailed scheduling and quality work,” says Gary Peterson, site vice president. “Our team did a great job executing our plan with excellent workmanship; we are extremely proud of this accomplishment.”

Catawba Nuclear Station is a two-unit power plant located on Lake Wylie in York County. Each of its units can generate electricity at a rate of 1,129 megawatts. Catawba unit 1 began commercial operation in 1985; unit 2 in 1986. The station is jointly owned by North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1, North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation, Piedmont Municipal Power Agency, Saluda River Electric Cooperative Inc. and Duke Power.

Duke Power, a business unit of Duke Energy, is one of the nation’s largest electric utilities and provides safe, reliable, competitively priced electricity to approximately two million customers in North Carolina and South Carolina. Duke Power operates three nuclear generating stations, eight coal-fired stations, 31 hydroelectric stations and numerous combustion turbine units. Total system generating capability is approximately 19,300 megawatts. More information about Duke Power is available on the Internet at: www.dukepower.com.

Duke Energy, a diversified multinational energy company, creates value for customers and shareholders through an integrated network of energy assets and expertise. Duke Energy manages a dynamic portfolio of natural gas and electric supply, delivery and trading businesses -- generating revenues of more than $59 billion in 2001. Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is a Fortune 100 company traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol DUK. More information about the company is available on the Internet at: www.duke-energy.com.