The Region : Diablo Unit 2 Produces First Electricity

The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s Unit 2 reactor has produced its first electricity, a Pacific Gas & Electric Co. spokesman said. The reactor’s generators started delivering 100,000 kilowatts--enough to meet the electricity needs of about 100,000 people--into the regional power grid, spokesman Chuck Peterson said. The reactor was operating at about 15% of its 1.1-million kilowatt rated capacity as part of a test in which output is being gradually increased, he said. By December, Unit 2 is expected to operate at full capacity. Unit 1 at the $5.6-billion, twin-reactor plant reached full power May 6. The two units together are designed to produce 2.2 million kilowatts of electricity, or enough power to meet the needs of about two million people, Peterson said.