New Steam Generators Delivered to Davis-Besse Nuclear Plant

FirstEnergy Corp. announced that two new steam generators have arrived in Oak Harbor, Ohio, for the company’s 900-MW Davis-Besse nuclear plant.

The new steam generators are scheduled for installation during the plant’s refueling outage next spring. Fabrication began in 2009 at Babcock and Wilcox’s nuclear equipment manufacturing facility in Cambridge, Ontario. The 74-foot-long, 12-foot-wide steam generators were shipped across Lake Erie to the Port of Toledo following completion. The components were then loaded onto rail cars for delivery to the site.

“Installation of new steam generators supports the continued safe and reliable operations at Davis-Besse,” said Ray Lieb, site vice president of Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station. “The new steam generators will help ensure that Davis-Besse remains an integral part of northwest Ohio’s economy, and a clean energy source, now and in the future.”

Davis-Besse was Ohio’s first nuclear power plant and began producing electricity in 1977. It is located 35 miles east of Toledo and generates approximately 40% of the electricity used in northwestern Ohio.

The plant has suffered through many difficulties over the years, but FirstEnergy seems committed to operating the plant well into the future. Currently licensed to operate through 2017, Davis-Besse is in the process of a license renewal application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which would extend the license through 2037. The company also operates the Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Penn., and the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry, Ohio.

—Aaron Larson, associate editor (@AaronL_Power, @POWERmagazine)