State Nuclear Industry

MICHIGAN

COLUMBUS

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LATEST NEWS

January 16, 2003

Nearby fire idles AEP nuclear plant in Michigan

...The fire triggered an automatic shutdown of the reactor, and AEP (American Electric Power Company, Inc.) is still working to estimate when it will come back on line…

[Editor's note: The preceding line concerning a fire in a transformer might seem like a prelude to harsh criticism of the nuclear industry in general, and the Cook power plant (where this problem occurred) in particular. Problems can (and sometimes do) occur at nuclear power plants, just like they do in non-nuclear plants. One fact is often overlooked in articles and discussions about the potential for an accident at a nuclear plant. Nuclear power plants have built-in safeguards, many of which escape public attention. Such safeguards, as in this case, can take over even when the problem is not at the plant but potentially affects its operation.]

Michigan Nuclear Highlights

Of the 31 States with nuclear capacity, Michigan ranks 10^th.
In 2002, the Donald C. Cook nuclear plant ranked second in capacity among Michigan's power plants. The Fermi plant, which has both fossil and nuclear units, ranked 9^th.
The Detroit Edison Company, operators of the Fermi nuclear power plant, ranked first among Michigan's utilities in retail sales . Detroit Edison's sales of electricity totaled 48,345,861 megawatt hours. Indian Michigan Power Company, operators of the Donald C. Cook plant, ranked third with 3,039,931 megawatt hours.

Nuclear Generation in Michigan, 1960 through 2003
Million Kilowatt Hours

Nuclear Generation in Michigan, 1960 through 2002

Sources: Energy Information Administration, State Energy Data Report 1999, and Electric Power Annual, Volume 1, 2001, and EIA Survey Form 906.

Nuclear Power Plants in Michigan
Data for 2003

Plant Name	Nuclear Units	Capacity Net MWe	Share of State Nuclear Generation Total	Operator/Owner
Donald C. Cook	Unit 1, Unit 2	2,060	50 %	American Electric Power/ Indiana Michigan Power Co.
Enrico Fermi	Unit 2	1,111	30 %	Detroit Edison Co./ DTE Energy
Palisades	Unit 1	767	20 %	Nuclear Management Co./ CMS Energy Corporation
Total	4 Reactors	3,938	100 %

Source: Form EIA-860, "Annual Electric Generator Report"

Competing Fuels

Year	Coal	N. Gas	Hydro	Nuclear	Petroleum	Other
Electricity Market in Michigan (Percent Generated by Fuel)
2003**	61	10	*	25	1	2
2002**	57	13	1	26	1	1

   *Amount is not significant
   **Total does not add to 100 percent due to independent rounding.
   Source: Form EIA-906, Power Plant Report

Emissions

Michigan Electric Power Industry Estimated Emissions Thousand Short Tons
Product	Thousand Short Tons	National Ranking	Annual Growth Rate (1993 through 2002)
Sulfur Dioxide	355	12th	-0.8 percent
Nitrogen Oxide	154	13^th	-7.3 percent
Carbon Dioxide	79,781	11th	1.0 percent

Source: State Electricity Profiles, Energy Information Administration

See also, the comprehensive table comparing emissions tonnage for all 50 States plus the District of Columbia.

License Renewal

According to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), no applications for license renewal have yet been received for any of Michigan's commercial reactors. An application for units 1 at 2 at the D.C. Cook power plant is anticipated in December 2003. The current license for the Palisades plant's reactor expires in 2007. The license for Enrico Fermi's unit 2 does not expire until after 2020.

Information on the current status of all license renewal applications appears on the NRC web site at http://www.nrc.gov . To locate the data, select "index,"then select the letter "l"and click on "License Renewal."

Where to Go Next (your choice)

To Next State in this Series (Minnesota)

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Nuclear Power Plants in Michigan Data for 2003

Nuclear Power Plants in Michigan
Data for 2003