OAK HARBOR, Ohio — Davis-Besse nuclear power plant remains shut down today after a steam leak Saturday night.

FirstEnergy Corp. shut down the power plant and declared the lowest level emergency in response to the steam leak, which came from the nonradioactive portion of the plant and does not involve the nuclear reactor, Jennifer Young of FirstEnergy said.

The company is examining the pipe that must be repaired to fix the leak, she said. The plant will remain shut down until repairs are complete.

“We do not expect this to be a lengthy shut down,” Ms. Young said. 

Electricity is available to the utility from other sources, she said Saturday night, and “there should be no impact to customers. They shouldn’t notice any difference because the plant is shut down.”

Davis-Besse personnel discovered the leak just before 7 p.m. and began a shutdown of the plant, Ms. Young said. The utility declared an “unusual event,” the lowest emergency category, notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and asked on-call support staff to report for duty.

“We make these declarations out of an abundance of caution,” Ms. Young said.

A quick shutdown of a turbine would have made steam visible from the nonradioactive portion of the plant, Ms. Young said.

“If anybody saw steam coming from the plant, that’s what it was,” Ms. Young said. “It isn’t a challenge to anybody.”

First Published May 10, 2015, 5:48 p.m.