Richland nuclear plant adds workers for refueling, maintenance work
May 11, 2021 10:46 AM
The Associated Press
Image credit: Bonneville Power Administration, Columbia Generating Station
RICHLAND, Wash. (AP) — A nuclear power plant in Washington state was shut down over the weekend for a planned 40-day refueling outage, welcoming about 1,400 new temporary jobs to help staff the outage.
The Columbia Generating Station near Richland was disconnected on Saturday so workers can replace about a third of the fuel in the reactor’s core — 260 of 764 fuel assemblies — that has been used for six years, The Tri-City Herald reported.
The temporary workers will assist about 1,000 permanent employees at Energy Northwest, the public utility company that operates the generating station.