Refueling outage brings 1,600 workers to Exelon plant
CORDOVA — Operators removed Exelon Generation’s Quad Cities Generating Station Unit 1 from service early Monday morning, kicking off a planned refueling and maintenance outage at the nuclear plant that will once again provide a major economic boost to the local community.
The company has hired more than 1,600 additional electricians, pipe fitters, welders, laborers and contractors to support the Quad Cities plant refueling outage activities at its facility north of Cordova. Many of these workers stay in nearby hotels and patronize local restaurants, gas stations and other merchants throughout the outage period.
Company officials stated the refueling outage would not have occurred without enactment of Future Energy Jobs Act late last year, which is expected to preserve the Quad Cities and Clinton nuclear plants for at least 10 years, saving and creating thousands of clean energy jobs and $1.2 billion annually in economic activity in Illinois.
“The refueling outage is our busiest time of the entire year,” said Mary Hess, manager at Riley’s Roadhouse in Cordova. “We increase our hours of operation, order significantly more food for our breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, and increase our staff for the outage.
“This has a tremendous positive impact on our annual budget,” she said. “We are so thankful for passage of the Future Energy Jobs Act. It was vital to keeping our business open.”
