Electric utility will cut 205 jobs in nuclear operating subsidiary

The company said the layoffs are designed to improve safety, efficiency.
AKRON (AP) -- FirstEnergy Corp. will eliminate 205 jobs in its nuclear operating subsidiary, or about 7 percent of that unit, as part of a previously announced reorganization.
About 120 FirstEnergy Operating Co. employees will lose their jobs immediately, company spokesman Todd Schneider said.
The Perry plant in Northeast Ohio will lose 55 employees, the Davis-Besse plant in northwestern Ohio will lose 35 and the Beaver Valley plant in Pennsylvania will lose 29, Schneider said.
One nuclear job at the company's headquarters also will be eliminated.
The nonunion job cuts, including managers and supervisors, are from almost all departments, including engineering, operations and work management, he said.
Another 85 employees will be let go as soon as their present assignments are finished, Schneider said Monday.
The cuts are part of a plan to improve safety and efficiency, a spokesman for the electric utility said Tuesday. But critics expressed concern about safety. Two of the Ohio plants have been under federal scrutiny.
Criticism
U.S. Rep. Dennis Kucinich, D-Ohio, a longtime FirstEnergy critic, said the cuts were "all about protecting corporate profits" and he planned to file a challenge with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
FirstEnergy spokesman Todd Schneider said the reorganization is designed to coordinate three nuclear operations to upgrade overall performance.
"This reorganization is not driven by costs," Schneider said. He said he had no figures available on how much the job cuts might save the company.
When all the jobs are eliminated, the nuclear subsidiary will have about 2,630 employees spread out at the company's plants, headquarters and suburban Cleveland laboratory.
Overall, FirstEnergy employs about 14,000 people.
The job cuts are the final part of a reorganization of nuclear operations the Akron-based electric utility announced in June.
"It's hard for anybody outside of the organization to say a number is too high or too low," said David Lochbaum, nuclear expert for the Union of Concerned Scientists, a watchdog group.
What counts is whether FirstEnergy manages the plants better and achieves the right performance, he said.
FirstEnergy shares rose 27 cents to close at $39.90 Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
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