| Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station | |
|---|---|
 The Fermi Station (NRC image) | |
 | |
| Official name | Fermi Power Plant |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Frenchtown Charter Township, Monroe County, Michigan |
| Coordinates | 41°57′46″N 83°15′27″W / 41.96278°N 83.25750°W |
| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | Unit 1: August 8, 1956 Unit 2: September 26, 1972 |
| Commission date | Unit 1: August 7, 1966 Unit 2: January 23, 1988 |
| Decommission date | Unit 1: November 29, 1972 |
| Construction cost | $6.110 billion (2007 USD)[1] |
| Owner | DTE Energy |
| Operator | DTE Energy |
| Nuclear power station | |
| Reactor type | BWR/4 |
| Reactor supplier | General Electric |
| Cooling towers | 2 × Natural Draft |
| Cooling source | Lake Erie |
| Thermal capacity | 1 × 3486 MWth |
| Power generation | |
| Units operational | 1 × 1202 MW |
| Make and model | Unit 1: Liquid Metal FBR Unit 2: BWR/4 (Mark 1) |
| Units planned | 1 × 1520 MW ESBWR |
| Units decommissioned | 1 × 61 MW Liquid Metal FBR |
| Nameplate capacity | 1150 MW |
| Capacity factor | 99.01% (2019) 76.3% (lifetime, excluding Unit 1) |
| Annual net output | 9,369 GWh (2021) |
| External links | |
| Website | Fermi 2 Power Plant |
| Commons | Related media on Commons |
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 (400 ha). 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) on June 21, 1985 and was declared commercial on November 18, 1988. The plant is connected to two single-circuit 345 kV Transmission Lines and three 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.[2]
On August 8, 2008, John McCain was taken on a 45-minute tour of the plant, becoming the first actively campaigning presidential candidate to visit a nuclear plant.[3]
- ^ "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
- ^ "Fermi – Unit 1 | NRC.gov".
- ^ NucNet. McCain Reiterates Support For Nuclear During Enrico Fermi Visit Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine. August 8, 2008.