NextEra Energy said it will not restart the Duane Arnold-1 nuclear power plant in Iowa before it is permanently shut down on 30 October, local press reports said.
The 601-MW boiling water reactor, which began commercial operation in February 1975, has been offline since 10 August when strong winds associated with a storm damaged the plant’s cooling towers and caused it to lose its offsite power source, resulting in an automatic shutdown.
“After conducting a complete assessment of the damage caused by recent severe weather, NextEra Energy Resources has made the decision not to restart the reactor,” spokesman Peter Robbins said.
The 601-MW boiling water reactor, which began commercial operation in February 1975, has been offline since 10 August when strong winds associated with a storm damaged the plant’s cooling towers and caused it to lose its offsite power source, resulting in an automatic shutdown.
“After conducting a complete assessment of the damage caused by recent severe weather, NextEra Energy Resources has made the decision not to restart the reactor,” spokesman Peter Robbins said.
The winds caused “extensive” damage to the facility’s cooling towers and replacing the cooling towers with fewer than three months until decommissioning was “not feasible,” Mr Robbins added.
NextEra Energy announced in 2018 that Duane Arnold-1 would be permanently shut down before the end of 2020 after NextEra Energy Resources, the company’s wholesale power generating subsidiary, struck a deal to shorten its power purchase agreement (PPA) with Alliant Energy.
The facility faced financial struggles and NextEra Energy said closing it early would save customers nearly $300m in energy costs over 21 years.
