South Texas 1 generated more electricity than any other reactor in the USA in 2001. With the exception of a scheduled 21-day refuelling outage, the unit ran continuously last year and produced 10.8TWh.
Gary Parkey, South Texas Project’s vice president of generation, said: “We sustained a 94% load factor in a year with a refuelling outage, something that was unheard of in the industry only a few years ago.” The reactor not only led all 103 operating reactors in the USA, but was also eighth in production among the 433 reactors worldwide. It also had the lowest average fuel cost of all plants in the USA last year, at 0.4c/kWh.
The two-unit South Texas plant is owned by Reliant Energy, American Electric Power’s subsidiary Central Power and Light, City Public Service of San Antonio, and Austin Energy. It is operated by South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company.
