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| 4/15/03 4:01:00 PM ET |
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FirstEnergy Ohio nuke plant restart slips
again
Reuters, 04.15.03, 5:08 PM ET
SAN FRANCISCO, April 15
(Reuters) - FirstEnergy Corp.'s (nyse: FE
- news
- people)
timetable to restart its idled Davis-Besse nuclear power plant in
Ohio will likely be pushed back to June, the company said on
Tuesday.
The Akron, Ohio-based
company still must complete "one of the last big tests" before the
plant can restart, involving a pressure test of Davis-Besse's
reactor coolant system and reactor vessel, said Richard Wilkins, a
company spokesman.
The test is
slated for mid- to late May, which means "there's a good
possibility" the restart schedule will slip into June, Wilkins
said.
The test, which involves
increasing pressure in the coolant system to an operating level of
2,150 pounds per square inch, may take three to seven days or
slightly longer, the spokesman said.
On April 8, FirstEnergy said a restart was not
likely until May, a setback from its earlier goal of restarting
Davis-Besse by March 31.
Davis-Besse was forced to close in February 2002
when inspectors found that boric acid leaking through cracks in the
reactor vessel head had eaten a hole nearly all the way through the
reactor's 6-inch thick steel lid.
The company has replaced the damaged
lid.
FirstEnergy met with the
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Tuesday to review projects
completed at the plant and remaining work needed for a restart,
which must be authorized by the NRC.
At the meeting, FirstEnergy reported preliminary
results from an employee survey at the plant in March that found
"marked improvement in many areas" compared with survey results from
last August.
FirstEnergy said
the surveys were designed to "measure the willingness" of plant
workers to report safety issues without worries about
reprisals.
The NRC has said
weaknesses in the "safety culture" at Davis-Besse were "key
contributors in the corrosion of the reactor vessel
head."
The bill for Davis-Besse
repairs, including purchases of replacement power, is likely to top
$400 million.
The plant has a
generating capacity of 925 megawatts, or power for more than 900,000
homes.
Copyright 2003, Reuters
News Service
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