SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D. C. 20549
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) March 12, 2002
Commission Registrant; State of Incorporation; I.R.S. Employer
File Number Address; and Telephone Number Identification No.
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333-21011 FIRSTENERGY CORP. 34-1843785
(An Ohio Corporation)
76 South Main Street
Akron, Ohio 44308
Telephone (800)736-3402
1-2323 THE CLEVELAND ELECTRIC ILLUMINATING COMPANY 34-0150020
(An Ohio Corporation)
c/o FirstEnergy Corp.
76 South Main Street
Akron, OH 44308
Telephone (800)736-3402
1-3583 THE TOLEDO EDISON COMPANY 34-4375005
(An Ohio Corporation)
c/o FirstEnergy Corp.
76 South Main Street
Akron, OH 44308
Telephone (800)736-3402
Item 5. Other Events
The Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station, which is operated by
FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company (FENOC), began its scheduled refueling
outage on February 16, 2002. The plant was originally scheduled to return to
service by the end of March. During the refueling outage, visual and ultrasonic
testing was conducted on all 69 of the Control Rod Drive Mechanism penetration
nozzles. This testing was performed to check for the kind of circular or
circumferential cracking in these nozzles that has been found at some other
plants similar in design and vintage to Davis-Besse. Based on the inspection and
test results, five nozzles will be repaired during the refueling outage.
As repair work began on one of the nozzles, FENOC found a small
area of corrosion in the reactor vessel head near the penetration hole,
apparently created by boric acid deposits. The corrosion will have to be
repaired and is expected to extend the planned refueling outage. On March 12,
2002, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission sent a team of engineers and
metallurgists to inspect corrosion on the reactor head of the Davis-Besse
Nuclear Power Station.
Although the exact length of the outage has not been determined,
FENOC expects the outage to be extended by 60 to 90 days and expects additional
nuclear-related operation and maintenance costs of approximately $5-10 million.
In addition, the loss of generation output from Davis-Besse during the extended
outage period could increase energy costs between $10 million to $15 million per
month. As a result, the outage extension and additional repairs could reduce
FirstEnergy's after-tax earnings by $0.05 to $0.10 per share in total during the
first half of 2002. The Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station is owned 51.38% by The
Cleveland Electric Illuminating Company and 48.62% by The Toledo Edison Company.
Item 7. Exhibits
Exhibit No. Description
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99 Press Release of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Company,
a subsidiary of FirstEnergy Corp., dated March 13, 2002,
announcing it expects the refueling and maintenance outage
for the Davis-Besse Nuclear Power Station to be extended
by 60 to 90 days.
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SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of
1934, each Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by
the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
March 13, 2002
FIRSTENERGY CORP.
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Registrant
THE CLEVELAND ELECTRIC
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ILLUMINATING COMPANY
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Registrant
THE TOLEDO EDISON COMPANY
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Registrant
/s/ Harvey L. Wagner
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Harvey L. Wagner
Vice President and Controller
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