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Scheduled Maintenance Cuts Power to Nuclear Reactor by Staff Seattle Post-Intelligencer, March 31, 2008

Energy Northwest reduced power at its Columbia nuclear reactor near Richland for scheduled maintenance.

The reactor was listed as running at 65 percent of capacity in a report Sunday from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The maintenance includes work on control-rod and feedwater-pump systems, company spokesman Brad Peck said Monday in an e-mail. He described the work as "short term."

Energy Northwest is a joint operating agency with 20 public power member utilities in Washington. Power from the Columbia reactor goes to the Bonneville Power Administration.

The unit's capacity is about 1,150 megawatts, according to Energy Northwest. That's enough power for about 920,000 average homes, based on a U.S. Energy Department estimate.