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Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station
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The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie near Newport, an unincorporated community in Berlin Charter Township, Monroe County, Michigan, approximately halfway between Detroit, Michigan and Toledo, Ohio. The plant has been built twice. The first construction was in 1963, and then rebuilt in 1985, because of partial nuclear meltdown. The two incarnations of the plant are termed "Fermi 1" and "Fermi 2," respectively; in everyday conversation, the current plant is always referred to as "Fermi 2."
The plant is named after the Italian-born American nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi, most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor, and for the development of quantum theory. Fermi won the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity.
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The 94MWe prototype fast breeder reactor Fermi 1 unit operated at the site from 1963 to 1972. On October 5, 1966 Fermi 1 suffered a partial nuclear meltdown. No radiation was released off-site, and no one was injured. The accident was attributed to a piece of zirconium that obstructed a flow-guide in the sodium cooling system. Two of the 105 fuel assemblies melted during the incident, but no contamination was recorded outside the containment vessel. Fermi 1 continued to operate until September 22, 1972; however, it was not officially decommissioned until December 31, 1975. Designs for a successor plant were soon submitted.
Fermi 2 is a 1098 net MWe General Electric boiling water reactor operated by Detroit Edison and owned by DTE Energy. It was opened in July 1985 after the demolition of the old Fermi reactor--now retronymically called "Fermi 1"--was deemed necessary but a nuclear power plant was also deemed necessary for the needs of Southeast Michigan and Northwest Ohio. It is currently in operation.
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Detroit Edison (DTE ENERGY) has recently expressed their interest in building another nuclear reactor on the site. This reactor would come at a reduced cost, because Fermi 2's cooling towers and some other components were designed to be shared between two simultaniously operating reactors.
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