More than 1,000 additional workers hired for the outage, powering the community with jobs and clean energy

MARSEILLES, Ill. —Operators at Exelon Generation's LaSalle County Nuclear Station removed the generator from service early this morning to begin a planned refueling outage. Work completed during the outage will help deliver reliable, carbon-free electricity to Illinois customers during the next two-year operating cycle.

To support the work, the station will use the talents and expertise of more than 1,000 additional workers, many of whom travel to LaSalle County from outside the area. For several months preceding and following the outage, the influx of workers provides a significant boost to the local economy.

"When the extra workers come to LaSalle Station for the refueling outage it means additional business for our community," said Assistant Executive Director of the Ottawa Chamber of Commerce Meg Skelly. "Starved Rock Country and the Ottawa Area businesses welcome the additional workers, who take advantage of all the services we have to offer, whether it's our restaurants, hotels or shopping."

During the outage, technicians will complete testing, maintenance and modifications that can only be done when the station is not generating electricity.

"We invest heavily in equipment maintenance and upgrades every year to make sure LaSalle Station continues to operate at world-class levels of safety and operational excellence," said LaSalle Site Vice President Bill Trafton. "The work completed during this outage will help ensure we're online during even the most extreme weather conditions, like last month's Polar Vortex."  

LaSalle Generating Station is a nuclear power facility located about 75 miles southwest of Chicago near Marseilles, Ill. At full power, the facility's two reactors produce more than 2,200 megawatts of carbon free electricity, enough to power 2.3 million typical homes.