DTE Energy’s Fermi 2 nuclear power plant has been powered back on after being shut down for more than three weeks due to a leak.
“Fermi 2 synchronized to the electrical grid Friday afternoon,” the power utility company said in a statement shared with Metro Times on Saturday evening. “Operators slowly raised power and reached 100% power Saturday afternoon. The plant was maintained in a safe, stable condition throughout the outage.”
The plant, which is located in Monroe County about 30 miles south of Detroit, was shut down on Sunday, Aug. 20 after a leak was detected in a three-quarter-inch pipe.
The plant provides DTE Energy with about one-fifth of its electricity, or enough to power one million homes and businesses. It works by boiling water using heat from nuclear reactions, which creates steam used to spin turbines.
The shutdown drew concern from residents and activist groups, who accused DTE Energy of not being “up front” about the situation. DTE Energy has maintained that it followed the correct safety procedures.
In 2018, Fermi 2 was shut down due to a valve issue. And in 1966, a partial meltdown occurred at the neighboring Fermi 1, which was the worst nuclear accident at a U.S. commercial power plant in the years before Three Mile Island. Fermi 1 has since been decommissioned.
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