FirstEnergy plans to use the reactor pressure vessel head from Consumers Energy’s closed Midland plant as a replacement for that on Davis Besse’s reactor. However, when FirstEnergy replaces the steam generators at Davis Besse in 2010 or 2012, the pressure vessel head will be replaced with a newly manufactured one. The estimated cost of the repairs is $55-75 million. The company had earlier estimated that it would cost about $25 million to replace the corroded reactor vessel head. FirstEnergy said it also expects to carry out an additional $50-70 million of work to upgrade the plant.
The company also plans to apply for licence renewal for Davis Besse, whose current licence expires in 2017.