UPDATE 1-NPPD shuts Nebraska Cooper reactor for refuel

(Updates with company comment)

NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters) - Nebraska Public Power District shut the 760-megawatt Cooper nuclear power station in Nebraska on April 11 for planned refueling and maintenance, a spokeswoman for the plant said Monday.

She said the company hoped to complete the outage in about 30 days.

During the outage, the company planned to replace the main generator stator in addition to the usual refueling and maintenance activities.

The unit last shut from Oct. 23 to Nov. 27, 2006. It is on an 18-month refueling cycle.

The Cooper station, which entered service in 1974, is in Brownville in Nemaha County about 75 miles south of Omaha, Nebraska.

NPPD has told the NRC it plans to file for a 20-year extension of the original 40-year operating license for the plant in September 2008.

One MW powers about 800 homes in Nebraska.

Entergy Nuclear, a subsidiary of Entergy Corp (ETR.N: Quote, Profile, Research), of New Orleans, operates the station for NPPD under a long-term contract.

NPPD, the biggest electric company in the state, owns and operates about 3,000 MW of generating capacity and markets power mostly to municipal and cooperative utilities. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by Christian Wiessner)