As many as 500 contractors working temporary jobs at FirstEnergy Corp.'s Davis-Besse nuclear power plant will be let go this week, the Akron utility said Monday.

The bulk of their work is over, spokesman Todd Schneider said. That will leave about 800 contractors working at the shut-down power plant in Oak Harbor, he said. Davis-Besse also has about 800 full-time employees.

The contract employees worked a broad spectrum of jobs at the power plant.

FirstEnergy still plans to have the plant ready to go online by early 2003, Schneider said. ``It should not impact our schedule.''

Davis-Besse has been kept shut down after two boric acid-created cavities were found in March on top of the reactor vessel head, which covers the nuclear fuel.