BRIDGMAN, Mich., Feb. 3, 2000 – The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has informed American Electric Power (AEP:NYSE) that the Confirmatory Action Letter (CAL) concerning the Cook Nuclear Plant has been closed. The notification came in a Feb. 2 letter signed by James Dyer, NRC Region III Administrator. “The Cook Plant team can be proud of this important accomplishment,” said Bob Powers, AEP senior vice president – nuclear generation. “The end is clearly in sight now, and we must continue to safely and deliberately proceed down the path to restart of the units.” Closing of the CAL is one of the key approvals needed for restart of the Cook Plant. Plant officials shut down both units of the facility in September 1997 because of questions raised during a design inspection by the NRC. The CAL documented AEP’s agreement with the NRC to evaluate and resolve a number of safety-related issues prior to restart. In the intervening months, AEP has provided extensive data documenting its analyses, work performed, and the operability of plant safety systems. The NRC conducted a series of comprehensive plant inspections prior to their decision to close the CAL. In June 1999, the AEP Board of Directors approved expenditures of $382 million to restart both Cook units and to proceed with the $165 million planned replacement of Unit 1’s steam generators. Unit 2 is scheduled to restart April 1. Unit 1 is currently undergoing steam generator replacement, but restart work has already begun and will accelerate following Unit 2 start-up. Unit 1 restart is scheduled for September 1. There are about 160,000 work-hours, or about eight weeks, remaining in the restart schedule for Unit 2. The remaining work includes reloading ice into the ice condenser system, refurbishment of motor operated valves, core reload, and returning plant systems to operational status. Prior to restart there will also be a reactor heat-up and testing phase that will take an additional three weeks to complete. After final inspections, AEP will seek concurrence from the NRC that Unit 2 is ready for restart. Given that concurrence, the reactor will be taken critical, connected to the transmission grid, and following power ascension procedures, increased to 100 percent power. This will take about 10 days. AEP, a global energy company, is one of the United States' largest investor-owned utilities, providing energy to 3 million customers in Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia. AEP has holdings in the United States, the United Kingdom, China and Australia. Wholly owned subsidiaries provide power engineering, energy consulting and energy management services around the world. The company is based in Columbus, Ohio. On Dec. 22, 1997, AEP announced a definitive merger agreement for a tax-free, stock-for-stock transaction with Central and South West Corp., a public utility holding company based in Dallas.