The Columbia Generating Station is celebrating the 25th anniversary of the first fuel loading into the reactor this winter season. On Christmas morning 25 years ago, the company took its first steps into opening, loading the first bundle of nuclear fuel, during the 19 days following the initial load, 764 fuel assemblies were loaded. After all the fuel was loaded and the over vital components put together the vessel was then sealed on January 19, 1984. Beginning this day many tests were done and many people were trained to ensure the safety, quality, and reliability of the reactor until on December 13, 1984 the Commercial Operations were confirmed.
The reactor is taken care of like clockwork, every 2 years one-third of the fuel is replaced and placed in a used fuel pool to cool and then into a concrete and steel cask before it is taken for offsite fuel recycling; 95% of the fuel taken from the reactor can be recycled into new fuel.
Currently Columbia Generating Station is the only nuclear power plant in the northwest, powering over a million homes. The station has produced over 170 million megawatt hours of power as of this past Christmas with no greenhouse gas secretions.
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