09/18/02

Oak Harbor

- Operators of the crippled Davis-Besse nuclear plant yesterday unveiled an ambitious plan to have the reactor - idled since Feb. 16 for major repairs - producing electricity again by Dec. 7.

"This is doable," said Lew Myers, chief operating officer of FirstEnergy Corp.'s nuclear division. "You don't make a schedule to fail."

But the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which has the final say, would not commit to FirstEnergy's timetable.

"As Lew Myers indicated, that's what he believes he can accomplish if nothing goes wrong," said Jack Grobe, who heads the special NRC panel overseeing the rehabilitation of the Toledo-area plant. "There's a lot of work that has to be done before then. We're not committed to restart - FirstEnergy is. We're committed to make sure the plant is safe. We are not driven by schedule but by performance."

FirstEnergy, which is paying about $12 million or more a month to buy replacement power, is pressing to get Davis-Besse back on line as soon as possible.

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