OAK HARBOR, Ohio — Operating licenses for the Davis-Besse, Perry, and Beaver Valley 1 and 2 nuclear plants will be transferred to a new company being established to run and maintain the facilities once bankruptcy proceedings for FirstEnergy Solutions is completed, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday.
The new company will be called Energy Harbor Corp., which will wholly own Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC and Energy Harbor Nuclear Corp. The transfer is being made from FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. and FirstEnergy Nuclear Generation Co., which have been part of FirstEnergy Solutions.
Advance approval for the transfer is expected to make the transition smoother. The FirstEnergy companies had requested the transfer as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.
The license-transfer also applies to spent fuel storage installation facilities, the NRC said.
The commission said the transfer becomes effective upon completion of the bankruptcy and formation of Energy Harbor Corp.
“The NRC staff’s review of the license transfer application concluded that Energy Harbor Nuclear Generation LLC is financially qualified to own Beaver Valley, Davis-Besse, and Perry, and that Energy Harbor Nuclear Corp. is financially and technically qualified to operate the plants,” the NRC said. “The new licensees satisfy the NRC’s decommissioning funding assurance requirements and the facilities are not owned, controlled, or dominated by a foreign entity.”
Davis-Besse is in Ottawa County near Oak Harbor, Ohio, along the western Lake Erie shoreline about 30 miles east of downtown Toledo. It is licensed to operate through April 22, 2037.
Perry also is along the Lake Erie shoreline, about 35 miles northeast of Cleveland. It is licensed to operate through March 18, 2026.
Beaver Valley Unit 1 and Beaver Valley Unit 2 are on a twin-reactor complex northwest of Pittsburgh. They are scheduled to permanently shut down in May 2021 and October 2021, respectively.
First Published December 4, 2019, 5:45 p.m.
