FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company Announces Management Changes at Davis-Besse, Beaver Valley

AKRON, Ohio, Sept. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE), announced today several management changes at its Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, and Beaver Valley Power Station in Shippingport, Pa.

Raymond A. Lieb, currently director of Site Operations at Beaver Valley, has been promoted to site vice president of Davis-Besse, effective October 8, 2012.  Lieb replaces Barry Allen, who has accepted a position at Pacific Gas and Electric Company's Diablo Canyon Power Plant in San Luis Obispo County, Calif.  Richard D. Bologna, currently director of Engineering at Beaver Valley, succeeds Lieb as director of Site Operations.  Beaver Valley Design Engineering Manager Carmen Mancuso will serve as acting director of Engineering at the site until a permanent replacement is named. 

"Ray brings to Davis-Besse extensive knowledge and experience in the nuclear industry and strong leadership skills that will ensure the site continues to deliver safe, reliable performance.  His extensive engineering background and solid understanding of plant operations are a benefit to the organization," said FENOC President and Chief Operating Officer Pete Sena.  "Barry's leadership has been an asset to Davis-Beese as the site strengthened its performance to achieve industry excellence, and we wish him the best in his new endeavors."

Following his service in the nuclear navy, Lieb began his career at Tennessee Valley Authority's Sequoyah Nuclear Plant in Operations.  He joined Beaver Valley's Operations group in 1996 as an assistant nuclear shift supervisor and later served as shift manager.  He has also held leadership roles in Engineering and Outage and Work Management and served as a loaned employee from FENOC to the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO).  

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Beaver Valley Power Station Returns to Service After Refueling Outage

[Commentary:  Congratulations to Beaver Valley Power Station and FirstEnergy for a job well done from the Knowledge Relay staff!]

AKRON, Ohio, May 11, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. FE +0.55% , announced its Beaver Valley Power Station Unit 1 in Shippingport, Pa., returned to service this morning following an April 9, 2012, shutdown for refueling and maintenance.

Beaver Valley's 911-megawatt Unit 1 began producing electricity at 10:00 a.m. today. The plant, currently operating at 40 percent power, is expected to reach full power this week.

During the outage, 65 of the 157 fuel assemblies were exchanged and safety inspections were successfully conducted. In addition, numerous maintenance and improvement projects were completed to ensure continued safe and reliable operations.

Prior to the outage, Beaver Valley Unit 1 operated safely and reliably for 359 consecutive days and generated more than 9.3 million megawatt hours of electricity since the completion of its last refueling in November 2010. The plant also posted an industry top-decile forced-loss rate of 0.01 percent during the past 18 months of operation.

FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Its FENOC subsidiary also operates the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, and the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry, Ohio.

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FirstEnergy's James Lash Elected to Electric Power Research Institute Board of Directors

AKRON, Ohio, May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- James H. Lash, president of FirstEnergy Generation and chief nuclear officer for FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), has been elected to the board of directors for the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), an independent, non-profit electric industry research and development organization. Lash's term expires in April 2013.

With 38 years of professional experience, Lash leads FirstEnergy Corp.'s FE -0.49% generation organization, overseeing the company's fossil and nuclear plant operations and environmental efforts. He has held engineering and plant operation leadership roles with FENOC's Davis-Besse and Beaver Valley nuclear power stations and was a loaned executive to the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations. Lash also served as an officer aboard the United States Navy's USS Mississippi and USS Long Beach nuclear cruisers.

EPRI conducts research and development relating to the generation, delivery and use of electricity for the benefit of the public. The group brings together scientists, engineers and experts from academia and the industry to address challenges in electricity such as reliability, efficiency, health, safety and the environment.

FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company dedicated to safety, reliability and operational excellence. Its 10 electric distribution companies comprise one of the nation's largest investor-owned electric systems. Its diverse generating fleet features non-emitting nuclear, scrubbed baseload coal, natural gas, and pumped-storage hydro and other renewables, and has a total generating capacity of approximately 23,000 megawatts.

Beaver Valley Power Station Completes New Emergency Operations Facility

AKRON, Ohio, March 30, 2012 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp. FE +0.37% , today announced that construction of the Emergency Operations Facility for its Beaver Valley Power Station has been completed.

The new 12,000 square-foot facility supports overall management of activities related to maintaining public health and safety during the unlikely event of an emergency at the plant. The facility also will be used by Beaver Valley's emergency response organization during quarterly training drills and bi-annual exercises evaluated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to ensure preparedness to respond to an emergency.

"FENOC and Beaver Valley view protection of public health and safety as one of our primary responsibilities," said Paul Harden, vice president of Beaver Valley Power Station. "The new Emergency Operations Facility underscores our commitment to the community and ensures that responsibility is fully upheld."

Features of the new state-of-the-art Emergency Operations Facility include: enhanced technologies that aid in timely monitoring and collection of environmental data; a secured, online database for sharing plant conditions and other event information in real time between company, local, county and state emergency responders; updated computer equipment; and diverse telecommunications technology to enhance communications capabilities. In addition, multiple power supplies ensure the facility will not be affected by a loss of offsite power.

Located in Beaver Falls, Pa., the facility replaces an existing Emergency Operations Facility located on site at the Beaver Valley station in Shippingport, Pa.

FirstEnergy is a diversified energy company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. Its FENOC subsidiary also operates the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station in Oak Harbor, Ohio, and the Perry Nuclear Power Plant in Perry, Ohio.

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