Fermi 2 Nuclear Plant Shut Down After Leak

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Fermi 2 Nuclear Plant Shut Down After Leak --Detroit Edison has shut

down the Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Station in Newport, Michigan, after a

leak of radioactive coolant. The leak happened around 5:00 Monday

afternoon in the containment building that houses the nuclear reactor.

The NRC says the coolant was leaking at a rate of 50 to 75 gallons per

minute. Exactly how much coolant was lost is not known. The NRC has

issued an " Alert " for the plant.

 

http://www.wtol.com/Global/story.asp?S=2851200

 

NEWPORT, MICHIGAN -- One day after a leak forced the Fermi 2 Nuclear

Power Plant offline, officials still don't know when it will go back

into service.

 

The leak was first detected around 4:00pm Monday afternoon in the

containment building that houses the nuclear reactor. Fermi 2 is near

Monroe, Michigan, about 25 miles northeast of Toledo.

 

Detroit Edison still isn't sure what component failed, creating the

leak. When crews get inside the building today, they hope to isolate

it and make repairs. The plant will remain shut down until that

happens. As long as it is down, DTE will get power from the national

power grid to replace what it can't generate.

 

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission had issued an " alert " for the plant

when the leak was discovered. All nuclear plants use four emergency

classifications to describe problems, and " alert " is the second level

of severity, meaning something is happening or has happened that would

degrade the level of safety at the plant. " Alert " level does not

indicate damage to the plant, and there would be little or no

radioactivity released.

 

That " alert " was lifted after the leak was stopped Monday evening.

 

A spokesperson for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission office in Chicago

says the plant was shut down Monday without complications and

nonessential workers were allowed to leave for the day. Detroit Edison

says the public was not in danger, and no evacuations were ordered.

 

Extracurricular activities were canceled at several schools in the

area. That's a standard operating procedure for schools within a

ten-mile radius of the plant. Students were able to report on Tuesday

as normal.

 

A DTE spokesperson says the reactor's coolant remained at a normal

level despite the leak. " There was never any release of radioactive

material, " said Lori Kessler of Detroit Edison. " The core of the

reactor has always been covered and it's been determined that the leak

was cooling water and from a non-radioactive source. " She added that

the leaked coolant was *not* released into the environment.

 

Monroe County officials say their nuclear emergency plan worked just

as it was designed to. " I'm very satisfied with our emergency

response team here. I think they've done a great job, " said Jerry

Oley of Monroe County Emergency Operations. " Our people are very

dedicated and they work very hard to ensure that the citizens of

Monroe County were at the top of the interests and concerns that we

had and making sure that safety was top priority. "

 

Fermi 2 is a boiling water reactor designed by General Electric. It

first went online in 1988, according to Detroit Energy's web site. At

full capacity, the plant is capable of producing 1089 MWe (megawatts

electric), according to the NRC.

 

Detroit Edison is a principal operating subsidiary of DTE Energy. In

its company history from its Internet site, the utility says it

operates nine base-load generating plants, including the Fermi 2

Nuclear Power Plant in Monroe. Detroit Edison's system capacity is

more than 11,000 megawatts. The company uses coal to generate about 85

percent of its total electrical output, with the remainder produced

from nuclear fuel, natural gas and solar energy.

 

The Fermi 2 plant is named for scientist Enrico Fermi, who led the

experiments that created the first controlled nuclear chain reaction

on December 2, 1942.

 

Detroit Edison also operated the Fermi 1 Nuclear Power Station at the

same site. DTE first broke ground on the plant in 1956, and started

operating the plant in 1963. Fermi 1 suffered a partial meltdown of

its radioactive fuel in 1966 which took 4 years to repair. It was

restarted intermittently between 1970 and 1972 until the order to

decommission the plant was issued in 1975. Right now, the plant is in

the process of decommissioning, with radioactive material still stored

at the plant.

 

Count on News 11 to stay on top of this developing story.