Article Photos

Fact Box

Local impact

SHIPPINGPORT - According to information provided by FirstEnergy, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's 20-year license extension given to Beaver Valley Unit 1 and Unit 2 will have a positive impact on the community.

During those additional 20 years of operation, Beaver Valley will:

n generate 290 million megawatts-hours of electricity or enough electricity to serve the state of Pennsylvania and New Jersey for an entire year.

n avoid 250,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions versus operations of a conventional coal plant. That is the equivalent of taking 40 million passenger vehicles off the road.

avoid the use of 116 million tons of coal or 480 million barrels of fuel oil.

pay $40 million in property taxes.

employ 950 full-time, highly trained professionals.

pay $1.4 billion in payroll.

provide $22 million in payroll taxes from employees.

provide $2 million in charitable contributions from employees.

provide 32,000 temporary jobs during refueling outages.

SHIPPINGPORT - The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced late Thursday that it has renewed the operating licenses for the Beaver Valley Power Station, Unit 1 and Unit 2, for an additional 20 years.

The new licenses will expire on Jan. 29, 2036, for Unit 1 and on May 27, 2047, for Unit 2.

The power generating facility is owned by FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), a subsidiary of Akron-based FirstEnergy Corp.

"Today's NRC decision is an important milestone for FirstEnergy," Anthony J. Alexander, president and chief executive officer of FirstEnergy, stated in a press release. "I am very proud of our employees at Beaver Valley, who have not only maintained some of the highest safety and performance standards in the industry, but have worked to ensure that the plant remains a key asset to the company and the community for many years to come."

The license renewal was granted after the NRC thoroughly inspected and audited the plant's safety and environmental programs; heard detailed information from Beaver Valley representatives during five public meetings; and reviewed more than 3,000 pages of supporting documents, according to information from the NRC and FirstEnergy.

In the end, the NRC concluded there were no safety concerns that precluded the license renewals.

"As a result of the license extension, the additional 20 years of operation means Beaver Valley will remain an important source of safe, reliable and clean electricity for the region while providing good paying jobs and financial support to the community," Paul Harden, vice president of Beaver Valley, said.

Beaver Valley Unit 1 went into operation in 1976, and Unit 2 followed in 1987. FENOC began operating the plant in 1999 after an asset transfer with Duquesne Light, according to Todd Schneider, FENOC media representative.

Since the transfer to FENOC, the company has invested more than $500 million to ensure continued safe and reliable operations, according to Schneider. The upgrades have included the replacement of Unit 1's reactor head and steam generators in 2006 and power output increases totaling 10 percent since 2002.

Beaver Valley is capable of generating 1,815 megawatts (net), or enough electricity to power more than 1.4 million homes. In addition, plant operations avoid more than 12 tons of carbon dioxide gases annually, an amount equal to what would have been emitted by a similar-sized coal fired power plant, Schneider maintains.

The station is one of the largest taxpayers and employers in Beaver County with annual property and payroll tax payments totaling $4 million. Some of those tax dollars support local schools and police and fire departments.

Schneider said the plant employs 950 highly trained professionals with an annual payroll of nearly $70 million.

According to information from the NRC, on Sept. 16 the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards an independent body of technical experts that advises the commission issued its recommendation that license renewals for Beaver Valley should be approved.

The final decision came Thursday.

The Beaver Valley licenses represent the 56th and 57th reactor licenses renewed by the NRC. There are 13 applications for 20 units currently under active review by the agency.