FirstEnergy Solutions (FES) said Wednesday it has submitted to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission its plans for training workers to supervise the removal and storage of spent nuclear fuel at three nuclear power reactors facing shutdown in 2020 and 2021.
This is a necessary step for FES to decommission its four reactors at three sites in Ohio and Pennsylvania. “Today’s NRC submission is a necessary milestone for us but not a welcome one,” said Don Moul, FES president, in a press release.
Just before declaring bankruptcy on March 31, Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Solutions said it would by October 2021 halt power production at three nuclear plants: the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio; the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry, Ohio; and the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pa. Originally, they were scheduled to shut down between 2026 and 2047.
Management has cited major difficulties in economically competing with electricity produced by natural gas and other sources.
The company, a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., has asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry to order power grids to buy electricity from nuclear and coal-fired plants, arguing he has the power to do so under Section 202(c) of the Federal Power Act and the Defense Production Act of 1950.
On June 1, President Donald Trump ordered the federal government to help keep struggling nuclear and coal-fired power plants afloat. So far, no concrete plans have emerged from the federal government.
FirstEnergy has also sought assistance from the state governments of Ohio and Pennsylvania to sustain its four reactors. To date it has had little luck on that front. Timing is running out for a fix, as FirstEnergy Solutions by the middle of next year will have to purchase fuel for the next refueling at Davis-Besse or move ahead with closure, the release says.
