Byron Generating Station Declares, Terminates Alert

WARRENVILLE, Ill., Nov. 27  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Operators at Byron Generating Station Unit 1 declared an Alert at 9:15 a.m. CT because of an inadvertent nitrogen release in a pump room that made the room temporarily uninhabitable.

The event was terminated at 11:03 a.m. CT when the room was ventilated and oxygen levels returned to normal levels.  Byron workers were using nitrogen while performing maintenance work in the room.

Both units remained at full power throughout the event.

An Alert is the second lowest of four emergency classifications established by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The event posed no health or safety risk to the public.

Byron Generating Station is in Rockvale Township, Ogle County, Ill. about 25 miles southwest of Rockford and 90 miles west of Chicago. Unit 1 began commercial service in 1985 and Unit 2 in 1987. The station uses two pressurized water reactors to produce steam for electricity production. Unit 1 produces 1,183 megawatts at full power.  Unit 2 produces 1,153 megawatts at full power.

Exelon Corporation is one of the nation's largest electric utilities with more than $15 billion in annual revenues.  The company has one of the industry's largest portfolios of electricity generation capacity, with a nationwide reach and strong positions in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.  Exelon distributes electricity to approximately 5.4 million customers in northern Illinois and Pennsylvania and natural gas to approximately 480,000 customers in the Philadelphia area.  Exelon is headquartered in Chicago and trades on the NYSE under the ticker EXC. 

DATASOURCE: Exelon Corporation



CONTACT:  Krista Lopykinski, [phone], for Exelon Corporation



Web site:  http://www.exeloncorp.com/ 

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