Weather Affects Ohio Nuke Plants

["Sandy Perle" <sandyfl@earthlink.net>]

Monday August 9 7:19 PM ET 

Weather Affects Ohio Nuke Plants

CLEVELAND (AP) - The high temperatures and low water levels in Lake 
Erie have brought two nuclear plants close to having to shut down 
their reactors.  

The northern Ohio plants rely on Lake Erie's chilly water to cool 
down the facilities. But the lake has been warm this summer and came 
close to the 85-degree limit that requires the plants to stop 
generating electricity.  

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - news), which operates the two plants, 
has asked the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to raise the temperature 
cutoff to 90 degrees at Davis-Besse plant near Toledo, spokesman Todd 
Schneider said Monday. The Akron-based company also may request that 
Perry's limit be raised to 88 degrees, he said.  

``Engineering studies show we can operate if the water temperature is 
higher than 85 degrees,'' Schneider said.

The NRC will decide in the next few weeks whether the Davis-Besse 
plant's cooling systems could function properly with the warmer 
water, said spokesman Jan Strasma.  

He said the last time a nuclear plant came close to passing the water 
temperature limit was four years ago.

``This doesn't happen very often,'' he said. ``Our staff was on 
standby that weekend. We won't do anything to compromise safety but 
we try to keep the plants operating.''  

The two plants use Lake Erie water to run their emergency cooling 
systems, which can quickly shut down the plants in an accident.  

The lake's temperature near the Perry plant peaked at 84.7 degrees on 
July 31, Schneider said. It was 83.7 degrees at
Davis-Besse that same day, he said.

Temperatures that day were in the mid-90s along Lake Erie's shores. 
Because the lake is at its lowest point in 30 years, the water is 
warmer than normal, Schneider said.  

``It's several unique circumstances coming together. It's usually not 
that hot and the water level is two to three feet below normal,'' he 
said.  

Sandy Perle
E-Mail: sandyfl@earthlink.net 
Personal Website: http://www.geocities.com/capecanaveral/1205

"The object of opening the mind, as of opening 
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