(Oak Harbor, OH) First Energy takes another step toward closing the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Plant.
The northern Ohio utility took what it calls "a necessary but not welcome" step in its effort to shut down the aging nuclear plant by filing a certified fuel handler training and retraining program with federal regulators. That is a plan required by the feds as part of the decommissioning process, providing details about training those who will be part of the removal and on-site storage of fuel from nuclear reactors.
First Energy Solutions intends to close Davis Besse by May 2020, a slow march toward the eventual loss of 700 jobs at the Oak Harbor facility. That makes the nuclear plant Ottawa County's largest employer and tax generator.
The plant has been in operation for just over four decades.