Fresh on the heels of a newly redrawn congressional district map that carves up Lucas County, U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich appeared to have begun fueling a political campaign Saturday by making an appearance in Toledo -- a territory where he has never before run for office -- at a rally opposing nuclear power.

"We have to take a direction in Washington that is committed to [alternative energy] sustainability, " said Mr. Kucinich, the representative from Cleveland who has been a longtime critic of nuclear power.

Anti-nuclear protests were held first Saturday morning in Monroe and then in the afternoon in Toledo, where Mr. Kucinich, a progressive-liberal member of Congress and two-time candidate for his party's presidential nomination, addressed a crowd of 70 people at Promenade Park downtown.

The rallies were in response to the critical damage at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan during the March 11 earthquake-tsunami disaster. Nuclear reactors there sustained meltdowns after cooling systems were knocked out.

Speakers Saturday said the Japanese disaster has led to a much-needed resurgence of anti-nuclear activism around the world.

Mr. Kucinich said he would oppose the next 20-year relicensing of FirstEnergy Corp.'s Davis-Besse in Ottawa County. FirstEnergy is seeking to operate the plant through 2037, instead of it being retired when its license expires in 2017.

"We have seen a series of incidents at Davis-Besse that would give anyone pause," Mr. Kucinich said.

The congressman said a new national energy policy is needed that promotes renewable energies and encourages people to demand stricter scrutiny of the nation's 104 nuclear power plants.

After his remarks, Mr. Kucinich insisted the appearance in Toledo -- a city that was for years almost guaranteed as a win at the polls for Rep. Marcy Kaptur -- was not a campaign stop in the coming race.

Mr. Kucinich opposed the new district map and said he did not wish to run against a fellow Democrat.

"I don't like it. How could I? Marcy Kaptur is a friend of mine," he said.

Miss Kaptur, who did not attend the rally, said via telephone that she expects Mr. Kucinich will make more political appearances in Lucas County.

"The district has been changed so substantially," she said. "This would be a stop in one of the counties he has not run in. I think he is coming into unfamiliar territory."

Once a decade, lawmakers must redraw congressional districts to reflect population shifts documented in the U.S. Census. Because of its sluggish population growth over the last 10 years, Ohio will surrender two of its 18 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives to more rapidly growing states.

The new map divides Toledo among districts now held by Miss Kaptur (D., Toledo), Bob Latta (R., Bowling Green), and Jim Jordan (R., Urbana). In addition, it stretches the 9th District, held by Miss Kaptur, thinly along the Lake Erie shore from Toledo to Cleveland, pitting her against Mr. Kucinich in a possible 2012 primary election.

Both Democratic lawmakers have said they intend to run for the seat, and the Davis-Besse issue seems to be their first local difference of opinion.

Miss Kaptur disagreed with Mr. Kucinich that Davis-Besse should be shut down. "There are consequences to that position, and my position is that every plant currently operated has to be properly inspected and managed," she said. "We should not build any more until we are sure of the safety of these plants."

Miss Kaptur said more people such as Mr. Kucinich should join her in pushing the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to keep a more watchful eye on nuclear power plants instead of calling for Davis-Besse to shut down.

"There was a time the Nuclear Regulatory Commission became lax and that has been one of my fights in Washington to get the NRC to do its job," she said.

"I think the NRC stopped looking at Davis-Besse so there was not only a problem at the plant but also at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission."

She said shutting down the plant would be devastating to hundreds of families who rely on those jobs and also to the local economy that would suffer.

"I think they should be fighting with us [against] the NRC to get the proper approach to placing technical training on nuclear power plant operations so we can bring up the next generation of engineers who handle these plants," Miss Kaptur said.

At about the same time as the rallies, the Davis-Besse nuclear power plant was shut down for the installation of a third reactor vessel head and other maintenance.

FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. said the 82-ton reactor head was manufactured by Areva in France. It will replace a head that was installed in 2002 when cracks were discovered in the lid of the original reactor that began generating electricity in 1978.

The 900-megawatt Davis-Besse plant last shut down for a refueling in July, 2010.

The NRC questioned how long the 2002 head could remain in service before developing cracks and leaks, prompting a decision to replace it and its control-rod nozzles. No fuel rods will be replaced during the outage, company spokesman Jennifer Young said.

"At FirstEnergy, safety of our nuclear plants is our top priority," Ms. Young said.

"We have made a lot of investments at Davis-Besse over the past 10 years or so, and one is our new reactor."

Davis-Besse's new reactor head -- which measures nearly 17 feet in diameter and is 8 feet tall -- was shipped to the plant in November.

Underground piping in a water system that provides cooling to plant equipment and systems will be replaced as well.

The rallies were part of a nationwide mobilization against nuclear power.

Many of the rallies' speakers called for the closure of the Davis-Besse and Detroit Edison's Fermi II nuclear power plant in Michigan's Monroe County.

Michael Keegan, chairman of the Coalition for a Nuclear-Free Great Lakes, said Fermi II shares its design with the Fukushima plants.

Some said evacuation zones around American nuclear power plants are just 10 miles but noted that the American government urged citizens within 50 miles of Fukushima to evacuate after reactor meltdowns occurred there.

That demonstrates how inadequate the 10-mile zone is, said Joe DeMare, a Rossford machinist and Green Party member who has been active in efforts to oppose license renewal for Davis-Besse.

Toledo Councilman Joe McNamara, also a Democrat, took the opportunity as a speaker at the Toledo rally to boast about what the city has done to promote renewable energy sources.

"The city of Toledo has built a one-megawatt solar field at the water treatment plant to help power the pumps that bring people their clean water," he said. "The city of Toledo has harnessed landfill gas to help power the waste-water treatment plant. The city has established a municipal power utility company that can become a component of delivering clean energy in the future."

Mr. McNamara also said: "Toledo City Council has also had the guts to stand up to FirstEnergy and demand that the renewable energy requirements of state law be followed."

Contact Ignazio Messina at: imessina@theblade.com or 419-724-6171.

First Published October 2, 2011, 4:00 a.m.