Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station | |
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The Fermi Station (NRC image)
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Country | United States |
Location | Newport, Michigan |
Coordinates | 41°57′46″N 83°15′27″W / 41.96278°N 83.25750°WCoordinates: 41°57′46″N 83°15′27″W / 41.96278°N 83.25750°W |
Status | Operational |
Commission date | Unit 1: 1957 Unit 2: January 23, 1988 |
Decommission date | Unit 1: Shutdown in September 22, 1972 & decommissioned in December 31, 1975 |
Owner(s) | DTE Energy |
Operator(s) | DTE Energy |
Nuclear power station | |
Reactor type | BWR-4 (Unit 2) |
Reactor supplier | General Electric |
Cooling source | Lake Erie |
Cooling towers | 2 |
Power generation | |
Units operational | 1198 MW (Unit 2) |
Units planned | 1550 MW (Unit 3) |
Units decommissioned | 69 MW (Unit 1) |
Annual gross output | 8,314 GWh |
The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie near Monroe, in Frenchtown Charter Township, Michigan on approximately 1,000 acres. All units of the plant are operated by the DTE Energy Electric Company and owned (100 percent) by parent company DTE Energy. It is approximately halfway between Detroit, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio. It is also visible from parts of Amherstburg and Colchester, Ontario as well as on the shore of Lake Erie in Ottawa County, Ohio. Two units have been constructed on this site. The first unit's construction started on August 4, 1956 and reached initial criticality on August 23, 1963, and the second unit received its construction permit on September 26, 1972. It reached criticality (head on) in June 21, 1985 and was declared commercial on November 18, 1988. The plant is connected to two single-circuit 345 kV Transmission Lines and 3 120 kV lines. They are operated and maintained by ITC Transmission.
The plant is named after the Italian nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi, most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor as well as many other major contributions to nuclear physics. Fermi won the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity.
On October 5, 1966, Fermi 1, a prototype fast breeder reactor, suffered a partial fuel meltdown, although no radioactive material was released. After repairs it was shut down by 1972.