Officials from FirstEnergy’s nuclear operations division told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Wednesday they would submit a detailed plan in two weeks for repair of the corroded Davis-Besse reactor head in Ohio, with a goal of having the 883 MW unit back on line in July.

Meanwhile, FirstEnergy Vice Chairman Peter Burg told an earnings conference call Thursday that “safety is the top priority,” and the unit would not go back online until both the company and the NRC are satisfied with the repairs. The fix for the plant located 21 miles east of Toledo, OH, has been called the most aggressive ever attempted on a nuclear reactor vessel.

FirstEnergy said it has retained the French company, Framatome ANP Inc., which has worked on nuclear plants previously and Welding Services Inc. Robert F. Saunders, First Energy’s chief nuclear officer, said that the technology and engineering involved in welding a large metal cap over the damaged portion of the reactor head were well-known and would use longstanding methods.

However, they are not known to have been performed on a nuclear reactor before. The alternative would be replacing the reactor head, and given the time to manufacture the head, it would be a year or more before the plant could be back in operation even if the factory stepped up operations to a 24-7 schedule.

Meanwhile, Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) has said repairs are unacceptable. In a letter to the NRC he called for replacement of the reactor head. “There is no scientific basis that such a repair can withstand the environment of an operating reactor,” he said. The repairs will have to withstand high radiation, constant pressure of 2,200 pounds per square inch and temperatures between 550 and 600 degrees Fahrenheit. The plate will be installed by robots while the plant is down because of the high level of radiation.

On another front an NRC spokesman said initial review of submissions by the operators of similar reactors has turned up “nothing that requires an immediate response.” The agency is continuing an in-depth review. After the Davis-Besse problem was discovered, operators were asked to detail their inspections or planned inspections of similar units (see Power Market Today, March 28; April 9).

Duke Power officials announced last week that because of the Davis Besse incident they had performed an extra reactor vessel head inspection at its McGuire Nuclear Station near Charlotte, NC. The inspection verified the reactor vessel head is corrosion-free.

Responding to questions at a National Petroleum Council meeting Wednesday, DOE Under Secretary Bill Card said the NRC had found somewhat similar problems in several other plants in the nation’s nuclear baseload power structure. However, damage was not nearly as extensive as at Davis Besse, and the industry has been on a schedule to repair and replace affected reactor heads. “But if on further inspection this became a more urgent issue, then you could see several more plants coming off line, and we monitor this because you can actually see gas price spikes when you take a thousand megawatts offline. The loss is going to be replaced by gas over the short-term.”

Corrosion, caused by an accumulation of boric acid had whittled away a 40 lb. hole in the carbon steel exterior of the Davis-Besse reactor vessel to the point where only a thin layer of stainless steel prevented a rupture that would have let radioactive coolant spew into the containment chamber that surrounds the reactor (see Power Market Today, April 1). The NRC said the corrosion may have begun four years ago.

Meanwhile, FirstEnergy announced earnings guidance down to a range of $3.30 to $3.45 per share from $3.45 to $3.65 per share estimated earlier. First quarter earnings were approximately 40 cents/share. The lower forecasted earnings do not include any costs from Davis-Besse, but are based on unseasonably mild weather, the continued economic slowdown, accounting changes related to pension costs and the prospective sale of its Argentine unit, Emdersa. If it assumed the Davis Besse plant goes back into service in July, the cost of the repairs, about $16 million, plus the cost of substitute power would shave an additional 11 cents per share off earnings, company officials said in the conference call.

To counteract the decline they have initiated an aggressive cost-cutting program aimed at adding 15 to 25 cents per share, which would be incremental to the $15 million in merger savings it expects for 2002. Noting the “unique” situation in 2002, FirstEnergy expects to be back on track in 2003, with earnings growth of 7% to 8% above this year’s initial guidance.

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