The Waterford 3 nuclear power plant is getting a break from producing power, but 800 contract and other workers and more than 500 plant employees are working overtime to refuel and refurbish the plant.
The 1,157 megawatt power plant, owned by Entergy, will be shut down for a matter of weeks. The schedule for stopping and restarting the plant is confidential because it is business-sensitive information, spokesman Carl Rhode said.
The planned maintenance shutdowns are scheduled during the spring and fall, when engergy demands are lower, he said.
That means the company pays less for replacement power that it must obtain from other Entergy plants or on the open market. The plant has operated continuously for 404 days since its last shutdown for Hurricane Gustav.
Waterford 3 provides 17 percent of Louisiana's electric power.
This is Waterford's 16th maintenance turnaround since the plant was started in 1985. They are done about every 18 months.
"During that time you do a lot of large maintenance projects and preventative maintenance that you can't do while the plant is under power operation," Rhode said, adding that counting contractors and Entergy employees from other nuclear plants, there are about 1,800 extra workers at the plant.
"They are in town and having a big impact on the economy," he said.
The closure process involves shutting down the nuclear reactor and turbines and letting it cool enough to let workers into the containment vessel.
"Then you do all the things you can't do when a nuclear reactor is running," he said.
Normally about 35 percent of the more than 5,000 rods are replaced during a refueling operation. This year, about half the rods will be replaced with a model that is less vulnerable to vibration and have a longer power-producing lifespan.
"They're safer and they perform better over time," Rhode said.
The rods heat a high-pressure water stream that is used to create steam. The steam powers the electric generators.