By ROBIN SHANNON

L’Observateur

KILLONA – Officials with Entergy are preparing to embark on a project to replace components at the Waterford 3 nuclear facility that will keep the plant viable for another 20 years.

Entergy spokesman Carl Rhode said crews will soon begin the process of replacing the plant’s two steam generators along with the reactor vessel pressure head. Rhode said the job, which is more than four years in the making, would bring about 2,400 temporary jobs to St. Charles Parish when the project begins in the spring.

Rhode said Entergy usually replenishes about 30 percent of Waterford’s fuel every 18 months and said the company is scheduling the steam generator and reactor vessel pressure head work to coincide with that refuel.

Rhode also said Entergy would be working with the Steam Generator Team, a South Carolina company that specializes in component replacement at nuclear sites nationwide. He said that of the 2,400 new jobs coming as part of the project, about 500 would be local crasftsmen from the River Parishes.

In addition to contributing new jobs to the area, Rhode said the $510.8 million project should bring an economic boost to the parish even though the major components are being built abroad. He said the pressure head, which would be ready in November, is being constructed in Korea, while the two replacement generators, which will be delivered in January, are being built in Spain. The project will begin in March of 2011 and will take about two months to complete.

Rhode said present employment at Waterford 3 is 600, so Entergy is currently in the process of constructing additional parking lots for the influx of workers. They are also working on an access road from the plant to River Road so equipment and materials can be easily transported.

Entergy also is getting assistance from the St. Charles Sheriff’s Office and the state Department of Transportation and Development in an effort to help with traffic controls around the facility.

Rhode said in the coming months, Entergy will begin advising the community about the upcoming project, including all matters that will involve the public such as safety, road closures and traffic congestion.