US-based energy provider Exelon has stopped operations at the unit 2 of its Braidwood Generating station to perform the planned maintenance work on a couple of water pumps at the facility.

The company temporarily shut down the unit at the nuclear plant early on Friday, 28 June 2013. The maintenance work can be carried out only when the unit is not operating.

Braidwood Station site vice president Dan Enright said monitoring of plant equipment is important for reliable operations at the facility.

"Our proactive approach to performing this maintenance will ensure that we can operate safely and reliably during the peak summer season ahead," Enright added.

According to the company, the electrical services from the plant during the planned outage will not be obstructed.

Braidwood station’s Unit 1 will continue to operate while the other unit is offline.

Exelon’s Braidwood Generating Station is located about 60 miles southwest of Chicago, US. It has two nuclear energy units that can produce a total of over 2,300MW at full power, which is sufficient to power more than two million typical homes.