The US utility Commonwealth Edison has announced that it intends to close its Zion nuclear power plant, Reuters reports. The plant has operated for nearly 25 years.
The company intends to take a charge of $515 million to account for the shutdown. The charge, to taken against the fourth quarter earnings for 1997, will amount to around $2.38 per share.
The company is closing the nuclear facility because it believes it will be unable to produce power at a cost that would be competitive in a deregulated market. The Illinois utility industry was deregulated in December 1997. Closure of the plant will mean the elimination of 650 jobs within a year, while around 150 staff will be retained until the plant has been shut down.
Zion has been out of service since February 1997 when the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) put the plant on its watchlist as a result of safety concerns. The shutdown resulted from mishandling of control rods at the plant.
The power station will undergo a two year transition period, after which it will be maintained until 2014, when the final decommissioning schedule will begin. Commonwealth Edison has six nuclear sites. Three of these, Zion, LaSalle and Dresden, are on the NRC watchlist.