What could be Three Mile Island's last refueling outage begins
What could be Three Mile Island's last refueling outage has begun.
Every two years, Unit 1 is shut down to allow workers to replace one-third of its spent nuclear fuel rods and rotate the others, so that it can continue generating power.
This year's outage began just after midnight Sunday, and it brings a mini-boom to the local economy as the workforce at the plant nearly doubles. It will last until about mid-October, said Dave Marcheskie, Exelon spokesman.
"TMI's refueling outages deliver a major economic boost for businesses in Central Pennsylvania, which ripples through our local economy," said David Black, president of Harrisburg Regional Chamber & CREDC.
"More than 1,200 visiting tradespeople will be working in our community utilizing as many as 36,000 room nights which results in additional support purchases in local restaurants and stores."
TMI normally employs about 675 people. It ranks as the 37th largest employer in Dauphin County, according to the state Department of Labor & Industry, but it also draws its workforce from Lancaster and York counties, among others.
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Even though Exelon has announced that Unit 1 at TMI could close in 2019, it has to refuel in order to continue generating the electricity for which it has contracted, Marcheskie said. That represents power for about 800,000 homes, he said.
Still, absent a legislative solution, this could be the last refueling at TMI unless state legislators enact policy reforms sought by Exelon.
With increased competition from cheap natural gas, Exelon has lost about $300 million in the last eight years at TMI, and for two years wasn't guaranteed to be able to sell its power in 2019 and 2020.
The company is seeking subsidies to put nuclear power on a more equal footing with natural gas, which have been enacted in Illinois and New York.
Those states gave nuclear power megawatts the kind of preferential treatment and premium payments that are given to renewable energies, such as wind and solar.
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