In May, the Metropolis Works facility received a clean bill of health when the NRC confirmed as part of its License and Performance Review that the plant was operating safely.
Following last week’s meeting with the NRC, Honeywell committed that it will not restart production at the facility, which has been undergoing planned annual maintenance since May, until reaching an agreement with NRC on the necessary upgrade projects and timing.
The timeline for the restarting of operations and the nature and timing of the upgrades has not been determined and will be addressed in the discussions with the NRC.
The Company does not anticipate any suspension of operations or the cost of plant upgrades will have a negative impact on its previously issued earnings per share guidance range for 2012.
"If it is decided in coming weeks that we would have to complete the upgrades before restart, it would then mean that we would not restart production for 12 to 15 months and we would need to reduce the workforce by 50 percent. That decision has not been made yet, and we hope to have more clarity soon," Honeywell spokesman Peter Dalpe emphasized on July 12.
Dalpe also explained if it is decided to keep the plant in shutdown mode for 12 to 15 months to do the upgrades, both salaried and hourly employee populations would be effected, and Honeywell would reduce the number of contractors working at the site as well. When the plant is at full production, it has 338 employees, 169 of which are union employees, as well as 100 contractors on any given day.
"We are currently working through the implications of prolonged production shutdown and do not have a final determination of who will be affected,” Dalpe said. “In the meantime, we have been communicating regularly with employees and will continue to do so as we have more information.”
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