NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- American Electric Power Co. (AEP) said Monday the shutdown of a unit at its Cook nuclear power plant could stretch into 2010.
The Columbus, Ohio, power company said the unit could be partially back in service in September of next year, if a series of repairs are successful. The unit then would run at 75% to 90% of its full capacity until its next refueling outage, an AEP spokesman said.
But if the repairs are unsuccessful, the unit would be out of service into 2010, when it would return at full capacity, the company said.
Unit 1 at the Michigan plant went out of service Sept. 20 after vibrations cause a hydrogen leak resulting in a fire in the main generator. The unit's generation capacity is 1,030 megawatts.
AEP said in late October the unit could return to operation in the late first quarter or early second quarter of next year, but warned of the possibility of a longer timetable.
AEP expects all costs incurred in returning the unit to service to be recovered through insurance, a vendor warranty or rates. It estimates the costs for repairs could run as high as $332 million.
-By Mark Peters, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-4604; mark.peters@dowjones.com
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 01, 2008 17:05 ET (22:05 GMT)

Publié le 01 Décembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones