Nuclear division: Should taxpayers bail out Beaver Valley?

From the outside, nothing seems to be changing at the Beaver Valley Power Station.

Beaver Valley’s two nuclear reactors in Shippingport are operating, providing electricity to the 13-state power grid. About 1,000 employees are going about their duties, providing about 1,800 megawatts of carbon-free power around the clock.

PHOTOS: FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co.'s Beaver Valley power station

But that soon could be changing: The plant’s owner, FirstEnergy Solutions, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in early 2018. Soon after, it announced it would deactivate Beaver Valley’s two reactors in 2021 unless Pennsylvania legislators provided financial assistance. That help has been slow in coming, leaving Beaver Valley and a second plant, Exelon Corp.’s Three Mile Island near Harrisburg, hanging in the balance.

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