Diablo Canyon Power Plant Begins Planned Maintenance and Refueling Outage on Unit 1

October 5, 2020


AVILA BEACH, Calif. — Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) today announced that operators at Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) safely shut down Unit 1 on Saturday, October 3, 2020, for a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage. Unit 1 has reliably generated more than 15 million megawatt-hours of carbon-free electricity for PG&E customers since the unit’s previous refueling outage in early 2019.


During the planned outage, PG&E employees and temporary workers will replace a portion of the reactor fuel, conduct maintenance, and test systems and components that are not accessible during regular plant operations. It is estimated that more than 250,000 person-hours will be invested in this outage, which will be comprised of more than 10 major projects.


A broad range of proactive measures have been implemented at Diablo Canyon to ensure employee and community health and safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. These include having all workers adhere to current county and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention protective guidance and by implementing industry best practices related to COVID-19 prevention, including daily wellness self-checks and temperature checks.


"We are prepared to safely conduct this planned work because of meticulous planning and preparation, our commitment to operational excellence, a highly trained workforce, and robust regulatory compliance. Our work during this refueling outage will enable the continued safe and reliable operation of Unit 1 and the generation of clean electricity for our customers," said Jim Welsch, Senior Vice President, Generation and Chief Nuclear Officer.


Each of DCPP's two reactor units is safely refueled approximately every 20 months. Unit 2 will continue to safely generate electricity while Unit 1 is offline.


About PG&E

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric energy companies in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with more than 23,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 16 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.