News and articles

July 8, 2013

AVILA BEACH, Calif. – Unit 1 at Pacific Gas and Electric Company's (PG&E) Diablo Canyon Power Plant returned to full power on July 4, 2013, following a safe shut down of the unit on June 26, 2013. "We are very proud of our team of highly trained operators, engineers and maintenance professionals who safely worked around-the-clock to return Unit 1 to service," said Ed Halpin, PG&E's Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer. "We are committed to generating safe, reliable and affordable nuclear power."

Operators at Diablo Canyon safely shut down Unit 1 after minor leakage was detected by maintenance personnel on a small section of pipe located inside the containment building. The pipe is part of the Residual Heat Removal System, which helps manage reactor coolant temperature after the reactor is shutdown.

"Our team noticed the issue and made the correct call in shutting down Unit 1," Halpin said. "Throughout repairs we exemplified conservative decision making, always putting safety first."

Unit 1 began providing electricity to the state's power grid on July 1, and safely transitioned to 100 percent power the morning of July 4. Unit 2 remained at 100 percent power throughout the repairs on Unit 1.

Diablo Canyon Power Plant is a nuclear power facility owned and operated by PG&E. Its two units together produce approximately 2,300 net megawatts of carbon-free electricity, about 10 percent of all electricity generated in California, and enough energy to meet the needs of more than three million Northern and Central Californians.

Pacific Gas and Electric Company, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is one of the largest combined natural gas and electric utilities in the United States. Based in San Francisco, with 20,000 employees, the company delivers some of the nation's cleanest energy to 15 million people in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit http://www.pge.com/about/newsroom/ and www.pgecurrents.com .