Thirty-five miles northeast of the city of Cleveland, sited on an 1100 acre tract on the shore of Lake Erie, is the Perry Power Plant – Ohio’s third nuclear plant to be ordered.
In 1971, Cleveland Electric Illuminating and partner companies Toledo Edison, Ohio Edison, Pennsylvania Power and Duquesne Light decided to order a two-unit nuclear plant to be built in Perry, Ohio. The plant would house two General Electric boiling water reactors of high power – each rated at 1205 MWe. The group placed the orders for the units in 1972, hiring Gilbert Associates to design the power plants. Groundbreaking took place in 1974. As construction work continued, power demand forecasts decreased and the decision was made to delay work on Unit 2. By 1988 work at Unit 2 was on hold, with the plant about 45% complete. The decision to cancel Unit 2 was made in 1994. However, the buildings and cooling tower remain intact – so that Perry looks like a two unit site, but only Unit 1 (nearer the lake) actually is an operating plant.
Unit 1 on the other hand finally loaded fuel in March 1986, and completed its 100 hour full-power warranty run on October 24, 1987. Perry Power Plant Unit 1 was declared fully commercial on November 18, 1987 and today is the most powerful single generating unit in the entire FirstEnergy fleet, with a rated 1260 MWe generating capacity after uprates over the years.
The National Institute of Urban Wildlife has certified Perry’s site as an official Urban Wildlife Sanctuary.