(October 12, 2005 - Hancock’s Bridge, NJ) - PSEG Nuclear plant operators took Salem Unit 1 off line Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m., entering its 17th Refueling Outage.  This outage marks the end of 153 days of continuous operation for the Salem Units, a new dual unit record for consecutive days online surpassing the mark of 148 days set in 1991. 

“I’m pleased with the performance of our Salem units,” said Tom Joyce, Vice President – Salem Station.  “We set aggressive goals for safety and reliability earlier this year and I’m proud of our employees and the successes we are achieving.  We are doing what we said we would do, keeping our commitments to our employees, the public and our stockholders.”

In addition to the dual unit record run for Salem, the station is also enjoying other successes.  Salem Unit 1 has a capacity factor of 99.9% for the year, surpassing the goal of 96.5%. Both Salem units operated safely and continuously throughout the summer, setting new generation records for the station.  In the spring, Salem Unit 2 completed the best refueling outage ever at the unit when they safely replaced the reactor head in just under 36 days. 

“Nearly 1,000 employees and supplemental workers will complete more than 15,000 scheduled work activities this outage including the replacement of the reactor vessel head and approximately one third of the fuel.  Together this work will ensure the unit is set for a safe and reliable run,” said Joyce.  “We’ve incorporated many of the lessons learned from our last outage into our schedule and plan, and our team is poised for even better performance this fall.”

PSEG Nuclear operates Salem Units 1 and 2, two 1,150-megawatt pressurized water reactors, and Hope Creek, a 1,050-megawatt boiling water reactor.  The three units are located on one site in Salem County, NJ, and together comprise the second largest nuclear site in the country. 

PSEG (NYSE:PEG) is a diversified energy holding company with annual revenues of more than $10 billion. PSEG Power, one of the nation’s largest independent power producers, has more than 14,000 MW of electric generating capacity in operation, and 1,200 under construction. PSEG’s other primary subsidiaries are Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), New Jersey’s oldest and largest energy distribution utility company, and PSEG Energy Holdings, a holding company for other non-regulated businesses.