Deactivation notices rescinded for Ohio plants

29 July 2019

FirstEnergy Solutions Corp has rescinded deactivation notices for the Davis-Besse and Perry nuclear power plants in Ohio and resumed preparations to refuel Davis-Besse. This follows the state's passage into law of a bill providing clean energy credits to zero-emission power producers.

Perry (Image: FENOC_

The bill creating the Ohio Clean Air Program was signed into law on 23 July by Governor Mike DeWine.

In March 2018, FirstEnergy gave regional transmission organisation PJM Interconnection notice that Davis-Besse would be deactivated in 2020 and Perry in 2021. It has now rescinded those notices. The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations and the Nuclear Energy Institute, have also been informed of the rescission.

Preparations are to resume "immediately" for a refuelling outage at Davis-Besse which is to take place in the spring of 2020, FirstEnergy said.

Davis-Besse, a single-unit 908 MWe pressurised water reactor plant, entered commercial operation in 1978 and is currently licensed to operate until April 2027. Perry, a single-unit 1256 MWe boiling water reactor, entered commercial operation in 1987 and is currently licensed to operate until 2037.

Researched and written by World Nuclear News