Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station
| Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station | |
|---|---|
The Davis–Besse NPP (NRC image) | |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Carroll Township, Ottawa County, Ohio, near Oak Harbor |
| Coordinates | 41°35′48″N 83°5′11″W / 41.59667°N 83.08639°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | September 1, 1970 |
| Commission date | July 31, 1978 |
| Construction cost | $2.221 billion (2007 USD) ($3.14 billion in 2023 dollars) |
| Owner | Vistra |
| Operator | Vistra |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | PWR |
| Reactor supplier | Babcock & Wilcox |
| Cooling towers | 1 × Natural Draft |
| Cooling source | Lake Erie |
| Thermal capacity | 1 × 2817 MWth |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 1 × 894 MW |
| Make and model | B&W RLP (DRYAMB) |
| Units cancelled | 2 × 910 MW |
| Nameplate capacity | 894 MW |
| Capacity factor | 100.57% (2017) 70.70% (lifetime) |
| Annual net output | 7779 GWh (2021) |
| External links | |
| Website | Davis-Besse |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
Davis–Besse Nuclear Power Station is an 894 megawatt (MW) nuclear power plant, located northeast of Oak Harbor, Ohio, United States. It has a single pressurized water reactor. Davis–Besse is operated by Vistra Corp.
Throughout its operation, Davis–Besse has been the site of several safety incidents that affected the plant's operation. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Davis–Besse has been the source of two of the top five most dangerous nuclear incidents in the United States since 1979. The most severe occurring in March 2002, when maintenance workers discovered corrosion had eaten a football-sized hole into the reactor vessel head. The NRC kept Davis–Besse shut down until March 2004, so that FirstEnergy was able to perform all the necessary maintenance for safe operations. The NRC imposed an over $5 million fine, its largest fine ever to a nuclear power plant, against FirstEnergy for the actions that led to the corrosion. The company paid an additional $28 million in fines under a settlement with the United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
Davis–Besse was expected to close in 2020 as it is no longer profitable to run when competing against natural gas plants. Plans were updated indicating possible shut down by May 31, 2020. However, Ohio House Bill 6 was signed into law in July 2019 which added a fee to residents' utility bills that funded subsidies of $150 million per year to Davis–Besse and the Perry Nuclear Generating Station to keep both plants operational. The bill was alleged to be part of the Ohio nuclear bribery scandal revealed by the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in July 2020.