FirstEnergy Solutions’ recent bankruptcy filing does not absolve it of legal obligations cemented in its nuclear-power licenses, according to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
“The NRC licenses remain in full effect, even beyond their stated expiration date, until terminated in writing by NRC,” Louise Lund, director of the NRC’s Division of Licensing Projects, wrote in an April 6 letter to Donald Moul, president of FirstEnergy Solutions Generating Cos.
That covers decontamination and decommissioning of contaminated sites, security of licensed material and classified data, and other operational matters, according to the letter, which was posted this week on the NRC website. The nuclear plants will also remain subject to NRC inspections.
FirstEnergy Solutions of Akron, Ohio, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on March 31.
Earlier that week, the company announced the closure schedule for three nuclear power plants: the 908-megawatt Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station at Oak Harbor, Ohio, in May 2020; the 1,268-megawatt Perry Nuclear Power Plant at Perry, Ohio, in May 2021; and the and two reactors at the Beaver Valley Power Station north of Pittsburgh that total 1,872 megawatts, in May and October 2021.
FirstEnergy Solutions also asked Energy Secretary Rick Perry to order a regional power clearinghouse to financially bolster the company enough to keep its reactors and other power plants online. FirstEnergy Solutions is seeking a guaranteed revenue stream from nuclear and coal power to help it deal with the much lower prices charged by its competitors producing electricity from natural gas.
Section 202 of the Federal Power Act says the U.S. energy secretary can order struggling power plants be kept online for the greater public good. But on March 30, PJM Interconnection, the regional wholesale power transmissions agency that receives FirstEnergy’s electricity, sent its own letter to Perry arguing FirstEnergy’s announced reactor closures don’t have a currently obvious impact on the agency’s customers.
On Monday at the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Future of Energy Summit in New York City, Perry said there is doubt about DOE taking the 202 route, according to GreenTech Media and RTO Insider.
Both quoted Perry saying: “The 202c may not be the way that we decide what is the most appropriate, most efficient way to address this. It’s not the only way.”
