WARRENVILLE, Ill. (June 11, 2008) - Exelon Nuclear received eleven General Electric Honor Roll awards for eight of its 12 boiling water reactors, recognizing Exelon as a leader among the top producing BWRs worldwide for capacity factor and longest continuous run in 2007, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy announced Thursday.

“These awards are a testament to Exelon’s hard work and commitment to safe, reliable operations through continued focus on equipment reliability,” said Exelon Chief Nuclear Officer Charles Pardee. “Strong performance by our nuclear plants will help meet growing energy demands and off-set emissions across the US, as nuclear power does not produce any greenhouse gases.”

Jack Fuller, president and CEO, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy, presented the awards to Pardee June 5 at Exelon Nuclear’s headquarters in Warrenville, Ill. Exelon received eleven of the 29 awards given by GE.

Exelon’s Dresden Units 2 and 3 near Morris, Ill., Clinton Station near Clinton, Ill., LaSalle Unit 2 near Marseilles, Ill., Limerick Units 1 and 2 near Pottstown, Pa., Peach Bottom Unit 3 near Delta, Pa. and Quad Cities Unit 1 near Cordova, Ill. were recognized for achieving top-quartile capacity factor in 2007.

Additionally, LaSalle Unit 2, Peach Bottom Unit 3 and Limerick Unit 1 were among the five BWRs recognized worldwide by GE for continual operation of more than 400 days within a fuel cycle that ended in 2007.

"We're delighted to congratulate Exelon on the outstanding performance of these units, and we are proud to be a partner with them for services and fuel for their nuclear plants.  This kind of performance demonstrates the valuable contribution that nuclear power can make to our nations energy mix and is the foundation for the nuclear renaissance we expect to see here and around the world," Fuller stated.

General Electric annually recognizes the top quartile of the 94 operating BWRs worldwide that use GE technology.  Top-quartile performance is evaluated in two categories: 1) BWR units with no refueling outage and 2) BWR units with a refueling outage. (A list of all GE award recipients is attached).

Following are the 2007 performance details for each unit without a refueling outage:

Limerick Unit 1 - ranked second in the U.S. and third in the world with a 99.3 percent capacity factor.
Clinton - ranked third in the U.S. and fourth in the world with a 99.16 percent capacity factor.
Dresden Unit 3 - ranked fourth in the U.S. and fifth in the world with a 99.06 percent capacity factor.

The following details are for units with a refueling outage during 2007:

LaSalle Unit 2 - ranked first in the U.S. and sixth in the world with a 92.47 percent capacity factor.
Quad Cities Unit 1 - finished third in the U.S. and eight in the world with a 91.63 percent capacity factor.
Dresden Unit 2 - ranked fourth in the U.S. and ninth in the world with a 91.6 percent capacity factor.
Peach Bottom Unit 3 - finished fifth in the U.S. and tenth in the world with a 90.43 percent capacity factor.
Limerick Unit 2 - ranked sixth in the U.S. and eleventh in world with a 90.24 percent capacity factor.

This is the seventh consecutive year that the two Limerick generating units have received the GE awards, which, according to GE, is a US record for BWRs. 

All eight generating units are “boiling water reactors” designed by GE and operated by Exelon Nuclear, the nation’s largest operator of commercial nuclear energy plants. Boiling water reactors are one of two primary nuclear light water reactor designs used in the U.S. and represent about one-fifth of all commercial nuclear reactors in use worldwide.

According to the International Atomic Energy Agency, there are 439 nuclear power plants in operation worldwide and 34 nuclear plants under construction.

Capacity factor refers to the amount of electricity actually produced by a power plant compared to what it could theoretically produce running at full power 100 percent of the time. It is a key measure of plant reliability and overall industry performance.