DTE Energy has shutdown its Fermi 2 nuclear power plant for refueling and maintenance work.
The Monroe News reports the shutdown is expected to last more than a month.
The company began reducing reactor power Sunday night and the plant stopped producing electricity early Monday morning, officials said. Besides replacing about a third of the fuel in the reactor, the work will include upgrading the cables that connect the emergency diesel generators to the plant and upgrading the piping that supplies cooling water to the generators. The four big generators are designed to kick on to supply electricity to operator controls when there’s a power outage at the plant. New equipment also will be installed at the transmission switchyard to improve grid reliability.
DTE spokesman Guy Cerullo told the Associated Press more than 1,500 supplemental workers are in town for the work.
It's the 15th refueling and maintenance shutdown at the plant since it began commercial operation in 1988.
