DTE Energy shut down its Fermi 2 nuclear plant in Monroe County on Sunday after a leak was detected in the drywell area that surrounds the reactor about 30 miles south of Detroit.
The public is not in danger, and the plant is in “safe, stable condition,” DTE spokesman Stephen R. Tait tells Metro Times.
The plant will remain shut down until repairs are complete.
At 4 p.m. Saturday, a sensor detected the leakage of reactor coolant, according to a notice filed by DTE Energy with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The utility notified NRC at 6:30 p.m.
Shutdowns are required when there is pressure boundary leakage.
“As our notification to the NRC stated, this is a non-emergency event,” Tait says. “Our monitoring equipment and indicators worked as they should to inform operators of the situation; our operators followed the proper procedures and the plant performed as expected during the shutdown.”
DTE workers discovered the leak was coming from a three-quarter-inch pipe, which is being repaired, Tait says.
“As always, our top priority remains the health and safety of the public,” Tait says.
About one-fifth of DTE’s power comes from the plant, which produces electricity by boiling water using heat from nuclear reactions to create steam that drives turbines connected to generators. The electricity is channeled into DTE’s power grid, generating enough power for one million homes and businesses.
In 2018, Fermi 2 was shut down after a valve issue was discovered.
In 1966, a partial meltdown occurred at Fermi 1, and it was the worst nuclear accident at a U.S. commercial power plant in the years before Three Mile Island’s mishap. Fermi 1 was decommissioned and is no longer in use.
The emergency inspired the song, “We Almost Lost Detroit,” by the late Gil Scott Heron.
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