Nuclear plant has trouble staying on line since refueling July 19, 2001 (North Perry-AP) -- The Perry Nuclear Power Plant in northeast Ohio is shut down for the fifth time since April.

The latest problem -- caused by the failure of a valve that regulates cooling water in the reactor -- comes in a period of peak demand for electricity.

A series of incidents has caused the nuclear power plant on the Lake Erie shore east of Cleveland to be down at least 34 days since refueling was finished in March.

After the plant was refueled and upgraded, FirstEnergy Corporation officials ballyhooed the fact that it could produce five percent more power and that the shutdown was the shortest ever for refueling.

Officials won't disclose what it cost to refuel and repair or the cost of the outages.

http://www.wkyc.com/news/morelocal/perry/010719nukeplant.ssf

-- Martin Thompson (mthom1927@aol.com), July 20, 2001