Hope Creek Nuclear Unit to Begin Refueling Outage Early
19 October 2004 - 4:30AM
PR Newswire (US)
Hope Creek Nuclear Unit to Begin Refueling Outage Early Decision
Follows October 10 Shutdown Due to Steam Pipe Failure NEWARK, N.J.,
Oct. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- PSEG Power, the wholesale energy
subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG), has informed
the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) that its Hope Creek nuclear
station will transition to a planned refueling outage following the
unit's shutdown on October 10 due to a steam pipe failure.
Refueling was to have begun on October 28 and conclude in
mid-December. However, an earlier start of the refueling may
provide an opportunity for an earlier return-to-service date. Chris
Bakken, PSEG's chief nuclear officer, said in a message to
employees that the "best course of action is to keep the unit off
line and transition to the refueling outage now." Bakken added:
"After this outage, I expect Hope Creek will be a much stronger
plant, prepared for a safe and reliable cycle." Thomas O'Flynn,
PSEG's chief financial officer, said the extension of the refueling
outage is expected to increase replacement power costs and O&M
by about $12 million (after taxes) or 5 cents per share of PSEG
common stock in the fourth quarter. "These added costs will
pressure the low end of PSEG's 2004 guidance of $3.15 to $3.35 per
share," O'Flynn said. Hope Creek was manually taken out of service
as a result of a failed eight-inch discharge line from the "A"
moisture separator to the main condenser in Hope Creek's turbine
building. "Our preliminary investigation of the event has revealed
equipment and personnel performance issues, which we will address
prior to the restart of the unit," Bakken said. In a letter over
the weekend to the NRC, Bakken outlined the key actions that will
be completed prior to resumption of service. A copy of the NRC
letter is available at http://www.pseg.com/nrcletter.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT Readers are cautioned that statements
contained in this press release about our and our subsidiaries'
future performance, including future revenues, earnings,
strategies, prospects and all other statements that are not purely
historical, are forward-looking statements for purposes of the safe
harbor provisions under The Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995. Although we believe that our expectations are based on
reasonable assumptions, we can give no assurance they will be
achieved. The results or events predicted in these statements may
differ materially from actual results or events. Factors which
could cause results or events to differ from current expectations
include, among other things: the effects of weather; the
performance of generating units and transmission systems; the
availability and prices for oil, gas, coal, nuclear fuel, capacity
and electricity; changes in the markets for electricity and other
energy-related commodities; changes in the number of participants
and the risk profile of such participants in the energy marketing
and trading business; the effectiveness of our risk management and
internal controls systems; the effects of regulatory decisions and
changes in law; changes in competition in the markets we serve; the
ability to recover regulatory assets and other potential stranded
costs; the outcomes of litigation and regulatory proceedings or
inquiries; the timing and success of efforts to develop domestic
and international power projects; conditions of the capital markets
and equity markets; advances in technology; changes in accounting
standards; changes in interest rates and in financial and foreign
currency markets generally; the economic and political climate and
growth in the areas in which we conduct our activities; and changes
in corporate strategies. For further information, please refer to
our Annual Report on Form 10-K and subsequent reports on Form 10-Q
and Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
These documents address in further detail our business, industry
issues and other factors that could cause actual results to differ
materially from those indicated in this release. In addition, any
forward-looking statements included herein represent our estimates
only as of today and should not be relied upon as representing our
estimates as of any subsequent date. While we may elect to update
forward-looking statements from time to time, we specifically
disclaim any obligation to do so, even if our estimates change,
unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws.
DATASOURCE: Public Service Enterprise Group CONTACT: For PSEG: Paul
Rosengren, +1-973-430-5911, For PSEG Nuclear: Skip Sindoni,
+1-856-339-1111 Web site: http://www.pseg.com/
http://www.pseg.com/nrcletter
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