FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) said Oct. 21 that two new steam generators have been delivered to the Davis Besse nuclear plant in Oak Harbor, Ohio, where they will be installed next year.
The steam generator replacement project represents roughly $600m in capital cost, said a company spokesperson.
FisrtEnergy said in a statement that the steam generators – each weighing 470 tons – were off-loaded at the Port of Toledo recently and transported by train to the plant around Oct. 19.
The steam generators were fabricated by Babcock & Wilcox (NYSE:BWC) at its facility in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada. Each of the components measures 74 feet in length, 12 feet in diameter and weighs 470 tons.
The new steam generators will be installed during Davis Besse’s regularly scheduled refueling outage in spring 2014. As part of Davis Besse’s design, the steam generators function as heat exchangers, producing the superheated steam that is used to drive the turbine generator, which ultimately produces electricity.
Davis Besse plant is a roughly 900-MW pressurized water reactor (PWR) operated by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC). The plant is currently seeking a 20-year license renewal from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The current Davis Besse operating license is scheduled to expire in 2017.
