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Do
You Know The Way To Santa Fe?
Watchdogs
warn more repairs at US nuclear plants
FirstEnergy
earnings rise on gains from merger
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US regulators to review
Ohio nuclear plant repairs
Reuters, 11.05.02, 2:08
PM ET
AKRON, Ohio (Reuters) - The
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it will review
FirstEnergy Corp.'s (nyse: FE
- news
- people)
work to repair its crippled Davis-Besse nuclear power plant at
meetings in Ohio on Nov. 13.
The Davis-Besse plant, in Oak Harbor, Ohio, was
shut in February to replace a badly corroded lid that sits atop the
reactor vessel -- a repair job industry analysts estimate will cost
the company about $400 million, including the price of replacement
power it must buy while the plant is down.
The lid was corroded by leaking boric acid, which
helps control the nuclear fission process inside the
reactor.
Akron, Ohio-based
FirstEnergy originally expected to restart the plant in December,
but additional work has delayed the start until early next year and
reduced the company's earnings outlook for 2002.
The NRC, which regulates the nation's fleet of 103
reactors, has the final say on when Davis-Besse can
restart.
An NRC panel reviewing
the repairs has added two issues to a Davis-Besse "restart
checklist," according to an NRC letter sent last week to
FirstEnergy.
The additions,
however, are not expected to change the restart schedule, according
to Jan Strasma, a spokesman for the NRC.
The additions involve changes FirstEnergy is making
on a water sump intake system and radiation protection. "These are
not critical path items," Strasma said.
In December, Davis-Besse operators are expected to
boost operating temperatures and pressure in the reactor vessel as
part of tests to pinpoint the source of boric acid found at the
bottom of the vessel.
The
reactor will not be restarted for the tests, Strasma
said.
FirstEnergy said
previously it believes the source of the deposits on the bottom are
the result of rust stains running down from the top of the reactor
rather than new leaks in tubes at the bottom.
The NRC meetings with FirstEnergy on Nov. 13 will
be in Oak Harbor. The NRC panel will meet with utility officials and
also hold a public meeting.
Copyright 2002, Reuters News
Service
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