Exelon : Quad Cities Unit 1 Refueling Outage Underway

Cordova, Ill. (March 27, 2017) - Operators removed Exelon Generation's Quad Cities Generating Station Unit 1 from service early this morning, kicking off a planned refueling and maintenance outage at the nuclear plant that will once again provide a major economic boost to the local community, drawing thousands of workers and generating millions of dollars in wages and commerce for Rock Island County and beyond.

This refueling outage would not have occurred without enactment of Future Energy Jobs Act late last year, which is expected to preserve the Quad Cities and Clinton nuclear plants for at least 10 years, saving and creating thousands of clean energy jobs and $1.2 billion annually in economic activity in Illinois.

Exelon Generation is currently hiring more than 400 employees to realign both plants for long-term operations. The company also hired more than 1,600 additional electricians, pipe fitters, welders, laborers and contractors to support the Quad Cities plant refueling outage activities. Many of these workers stay in nearby hotels and patronize local restaurants, gas stations and other merchants throughout the outage period.

'The refueling outage is our busiest time of the entire year,' said Mary Hess, manager at Riley's Roadhouse in Cordova. 'We increase our hours of operation, order significantly more food for our breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, and increase our staff for the outage. This has a tremendous positive impact on our annual budget. We are so thankful for passage of the Future Energy Jobs Act. It was vital to keeping our business open.'

During the outage, technicians will perform maintenance and modifications on plant equipment using state-of-the-art technology designed to keep the plant running at world-class levels of safety and operational excellence for the future.

'On behalf of all of our employees and outage workers here at Quad Cities, I want to again thank Governor Rauner and the Illinois General Assembly for their leadership in enacting the Illinois Future Energy Jobs Act, which makes our state an environmental leader and ensures a more secure energy future,' said Scott Darin, Quad Cities Station's site vice president. 'The work being performed during this outage will greatly benefit the local economy and help us to continue to deliver clean, reliable, safe energy for the region for many years.'

Quad Cities Unit 2 will continue to operate during the Unit 1 refueling outage.

Quad Cities Station generates nearly 1,900 megawatts of electricity, enough for more than 1 million homes. Exelon Generation's six nuclear stations in Illinois inject nearly $9 billion into the state economy each year while providing 90 percent of the state's carbon-free power. To learn more about the vital role nuclear plays in supplying electricity to Illinois and the tremendous benefits it provides families and communities, visit nuclearpowersillinois.com.

Quad Cities Generating Station is in upper Rock Island County, Ill., just north of Cordova, Ill. Follow us on Twitter and You Tube.