Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station
The Fermi Station (NRC image)
The Fermi Station (NRC image)
Official nameFermi Power Plant
CountryUnited States
LocationFrenchtown Charter Township, Monroe County, Michigan
Coordinates41°57′46″N 83°15′27″W / 41.96278°N 83.25750°W / 41.96278; -83.25750
StatusOperational
Construction beganUnit 1: August 8, 1956
Unit 2: September 26, 1972
Commission dateUnit 1: August 7, 1966
Unit 2: January 23, 1988
Decommission dateUnit 1: November 29, 1972
Construction cost$6.110 billion (2007 USD)[1]
Owner(s)DTE Energy
Operator(s)DTE Energy
Nuclear power station
Reactor typeBWR/4
Reactor supplierGeneral Electric
Cooling towers2 × Natural Draft
Cooling sourceLake Erie
Thermal capacity1 × 3486 MWth
Power generation
Units operational1 × 1202 MW
Make and modelUnit 1: Liquid Metal FBRTooltip Fast Breeder Reactor
Unit 2: BWR/4 (Mark 1)
Units planned1 × 1520 MW ESBWR
Units decommissioned1 × 61 MW Liquid Metal FBRTooltip Fast Breeder Reactor
Nameplate capacity1150 MW
Capacity factor99.01% (2019)
76.3% (lifetime, excluding Unit 1)
Annual net output9,369 GWh (2021)
External links
WebsiteFermi 2 Power Plant
CommonsRelated media on Commons

The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant on the shore of Lake Erie near Monroe, in Frenchtown Charter Township, Michigan on approximately 1,000 acres (400 ha). All units of the plant are operated by the DTE Energy Electric Company and owned (100 percent) by parent company DTE Energy. It is approximately halfway between Detroit, Michigan, and Toledo, Ohio. It is also visible from parts of Amherstburg and Colchester, Ontario as well as on the shore of Lake Erie in Ottawa County, Ohio. Two units have been constructed on this site. The first unit's construction started on August 4, 1956 and reached initial criticality on August 23, 1963, and the second unit received its construction permit on September 26, 1972. It reached criticality (head on) on June 21, 1985 and was declared commercial on November 18, 1988. The plant is connected to two single-circuit 345 kV Transmission Lines and three 120 kV lines. They are operated and maintained by ITC Transmission.

The plant is named after the Italian nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi, most noted for his work on the development of the first nuclear reactor as well as many other major contributions to nuclear physics. Fermi won the 1938 Nobel Prize in Physics for his work on induced radioactivity.

On October 5, 1966, Fermi 1, a prototype fast breeder reactor, suffered a partial fuel meltdown, although no radioactive material was released. After repairs it was shut down by 1972.[2]

On August 8, 2008, John McCain was taken on a 45-minute tour of the plant, becoming the first actively campaigning presidential candidate to visit a nuclear plant.[3]

Fermi 1

The 69 MWe prototype fast breeder reactor Fermi 1 unit was under construction and development at the site from 1956 to 1963. Initial criticality was achieved on August 23, 1963. On October 5, 1966 Fermi 1 suffered a partial fuel meltdown. Two of the 92 fuel assemblies were partially damaged. According to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), there was no abnormal radioactivity released into the environment.[4]

Fermi 1 was a liquid metal (sodium) cooled fast breeder reactor design. It was capable of producing 200 megawatts thermal (MWt) power or 69 MW electrical power with 26% enriched metallic uranium fuel. The enriched uranium section of the reactor (core) was a 30 inch in diameter cylinder by 30 inches high and contained 92 fuel assemblies. The core was surrounded by 548 additional assemblies containing depleted uranium. These assemblies were about 2.5 inches square by about 8 feet tall. Only the core section contained the enriched uranium while depleted uranium was placed above and below within the assemblies. The core also contained 2 control rods and 8 safety rods. The plant was designed for 430 MWt and 125 MWe using a newer uranium oxide fuel, but the plant was closed before the fuel was ever ordered.

A 168 MWe oil-fired boiler was added in 1966 to utilize the turbine-generator during periods when the reactor was not producing power.

The main cause of the partial meltdown was a temperature increase caused by a blockage in one of the lower support plate orifices that allowed the flow of liquid sodium into the reactor. The blockage caused an insufficient amount of coolant to enter the fuel assembly; this was not noticed by the operators until the core temperature alarms sounded. Several fuel rod subassemblies reached high temperatures of around 700 °F (370 °C) (with an expected range near 580 °F, 304 °C), causing them to melt.[4]

Following an extended shutdown that involved fuel replacement, repairs to vessel, and cleanup, Fermi 1 restarted in July 1970 and reached full power. Due to lack of funds and aging equipment, it was finally shut down permanently on November 27, 1972, and was officially decommissioned December 31, 1975, under the definition of the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC). Later, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) replaced the AEC and under their new definitions, Fermi was re-designated as being in SAFSTOR due to some remaining radioactivity at the site. On May 16, 1996, decommissioning was restarted. However, by November 2011 with very little activity remaining, a decision was made to halt further work. It is currently in SAFSTOR.[4]

Fermi 2

Fermi 2 is a 1,202 MWe General Electric boiling water reactor owned and operated by DTE Energy. Plans to build were announced in July 1968. Initial criticality was achieved in July 1985, and full commercial operation commenced on January 23, 1988.[5]

The reactor vessel holds 764 fuel assemblies and 185 control rods which modulate the power. The fuel assemblies are about 6 inches (15 cm) square by about 12 feet (3.7 m) long. The original turbine generator was an English Electric unit. After a turbine blade incident in 1993, the company replaced the turbine with a General Electric unit.[6] Water flowing through the reactor vessel changes to saturated steam and then travels to the main turbine-generator to produce electricity. After that, the steam drops into a main condenser where it is condensed to liquid water and is recycled. A secondary loop of water which enters the tube side of the condenser is non-radioactive. It flows to two large cooling towers which stand 400 feet (120 m) tall where the hot water is cooled by natural circulation with ambient air. This is a closed loop with only a small amount of make-up water needed from Lake Erie to replace any evaporation.

Two 345 kV lines send power to the customers. Those same lines are used to supply electricity to the site's safety equipment. Three additional 120 kV lines are also available to supply any needed back-up power to safety equipment. Additionally, four diesel generators and four combustion turbine generators are on site to power plant safety equipment during an emergency.

Fermi 3

The original Fermi 3 project was to be a companion unit identical to Fermi 2. It was ordered in 1972 and cancelled in 1974. See DOE data Archived 2018-07-24 at the Wayback Machine page 67 and WNA Fermi 3 data.

In September 2008, Detroit Edison filed an application with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for a Combined Construction and Operating License (COL) for a third reactor.[7] The new unit is supposed to be built on the same site, slightly to the southwest of Fermi 2. The reactor design selected is the 1,550 MWe GE-designed passive Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactor (ESBWR). Review of the 17,000-page application could take four years, after which construction could take six years. The cost is estimated at as much as $10 billion.[8] CEO Anthony Earley said that DTE's analysis "so far shows that nuclear power will, over the long term, be the most cost-effective baseload option for our customers, ... We expect nuclear to remain the low-cost option, but we will continue to evaluate nuclear against other resources and will commit to proceeding with construction only at the right time and at the right cost".[9]

In March 2009, a coalition of citizen groups asked federal regulators to reject plans for Fermi 3, contending that it would pose a range of threats to public health and the environment. The groups have filed 14 contentions with the NRC, claiming that a new plant would pose "radioactive, toxic and thermal impacts on Lake Erie's vulnerable western basin."[10][11]

In May 2015, the NRC approved a combined construction and operating license for Fermi 3, but DTE Energy stated there were no plans for construction at that time.[12]

Electricity Production

Enrico Fermi generated 9,369 GWh in 2021.

Generation (MWh) of Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station (Nuclear Only)[13]
Year Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Annual (Total)
2001 837,265 749,406 826,737 706,549 820,950 788,950 807,415 809,566 789,928 682,435 4,215 732,887 8,556,303
2002 754,709 747,777 787,517 748,342 803,368 782,676 809,054 812,779 761,983 750,145 809,883 732,979 9,301,212
2003 792,301 739,514 715,929 -- -- -- 815,050 648,240 634,507 -- 808,049 -- 5,153,590
2004 806,600 781,335 820,299 800,541 819,994 788,165 798,836 559,293 690,903 823,176 120,305 639,121 8,448,568
2005 638,981 580,714 836,423 795,663 824,986 651,229 382,163 808,510 787,983 817,561 803,252 829,546 8,757,011
2006 826,481 741,745 628,282 -4,797 351,364 575,267 298,834 778,793 795,729 834,917 811,793 839,455 7,477,863
2007 834,889 758,769 833,817 803,071 824,803 787,182 809,715 808,989 733,388 -4,605 295,390 828,414 8,313,822
2008 824,297 686,958 832,266 801,327 823,731 782,504 808,535 812,030 784,019 825,674 803,223 829,098 9,613,662
2009 832,010 738,825 683,426 -6,302 790,300 701,696 808,091 804,657 753,847 -12,431 482,374 829,396 7,405,889
2010 826,918 749,957 623,748 793,338 813,870 479,778 795,329 794,316 779,145 618,650 -5,398 471,127 7,740,778
2011 534,396 333,482 838,519 806,518 817,992 785,387 801,893 800,318 785,802 826,292 735,304 828,193 8,894,096
2012 834,626 777,830 656,202 -4,115 653,358 600,935 38,178 523,993 419,890 538,867 96,090 -12,871 5,122,983
2013 537,089 489,377 529,843 432,896 357,798 512,759 522,457 526,841 275,104 789,221 791,568 834,597 6,599,550
2014 758,359 199,959 -7,797 418,957 836,073 803,339 833,048 831,399 675,631 824,570 829,874 790,021 7,793,433
2015 858,327 773,618 488,848 717,693 839,345 800,498 827,565 824,871 312,040 -4,519 36,547 856,696 7,331,529
2016 852,242 777,977 810,002 775,356 528,957 795,545 820,778 735,913 781,448 843,802 579,598 849,803 9,151,421
2017 835,785 703,553 456,062 257,629 812,375 813,616 838,126 837,585 815,266 844,960 745,390 736,114 8,696,461
2018 852,280 769,469 864,758 355,038 548,306 804,821 801,144 829,597 556,210 81,351 822,071 135,851 7,420,896
2019 785,062 778,142 854,968 824,948 843,326 801,898 829,239 834,287 806,165 849,249 833,675 845,190 9,886,149
2020 835,210 789,426 542,909 -4,083 -4,972 -10,804 -12,240 605,251 816,375 826,543 824,985 861,768 6,070,368
2021 862,146 778,026 848,825 854,935 606,825 806,004 720,959 823,139 804,551 833,478 816,935 613,543 9,369,366
2022 447,884 61,614 -4,563 -4,680 428,119 708,210 834,963 835,493 807,914 854,823 830,947 861,839 6,662,563
2023 858,302 776,261 858,865 826,438 849,305 806,739 796,212 5,772,122

Surrounding population

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 miles (16 km), concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 miles (80 km), concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.[14]

The 2010 U.S. population within 50 miles (80 km) of Enrico Fermi was 4,799,526, a decrease of 3.4 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. Cities within 50 miles (80 km) include Detroit (30 miles (48 km) to city center) and Toledo (27 miles (43 km)). Additional population within 50 miles (80 km) is in Canada, including Windsor, Ontario, 26 miles (42 km).[15]

A 2021 report by the Radiation and Public Health Project (RPHP) found a rise in the rate of death due to cancer with a steadily rising rate in Monroe County during the 2009-2018 decade and attempted to correlate it to Fermi.[16] However numerous studies conducted by respected scientific organizations, such as the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute, have shown that living near nuclear power plants "have no adverse impact on cancer rates" and the NRC has stated that numerous peer-reviewed scientific studies have shown no correlation, and that the RPHP's simple observation of a statistical association does not prove causation.[17] In an op-ed Pete Dietrich, Senior Vice President and Chief Nuclear Officer at DTE Energy called the report a "dishonest attempt to sway public opinion" and went on to point out that "At all U.S. nuclear plants, including Fermi, radiation is strictly monitored by radiation experts and the NRC."[18]

Seismic risk

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's 2010 estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Fermi was 1 in 238,095 making it the 88th least likely to be damaged of all US nuclear generating stations.[19][20]

Reactor data

The Enrico Fermi Nuclear Generating Station consists of one operational reactor, one closed unit and one additional is planned.

Reactor Unit[21] Reactor Type Electrical Generation Capacity Construction Start Initial Criticality Commercial Operation Start Permanent Shutdown
Net Gross
Fermi 1 LMFBR 60 MW 69 MW 8/8/1956 8/23/1963 7/8/1966 11/29/1972
Fermi 2 BWR-4 1150 MW 1202 MW 9/26/1972 7/2/1985 1/23/1988
Fermi 3 (planned)[22] ESBWR 1490 MW 1550 MW

Notes

  1. "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 3 October 2017.
  2. "Fermi – Unit 1 | NRC.gov".
  3. NucNet. McCain Reiterates Support For Nuclear During Enrico Fermi Visit Archived 2011-10-04 at the Wayback Machine. August 8, 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 NRC "Fermi, Unit 1", NRC Website, 3 February 2011, accessed 17 March 2011.
  5. NRC "Fermi, Unit 2", NRC Website, 13 January 2011, accessed 17 March 2011.
  6. Bray, Hiawatha (28 December 1993). "Fermi fire could shut down plant 3-6 months - Damage to turbine set off reactor alert". Detroit Free Press.
  7. "Fermi, Unit 3 Application". U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). 2008-09-19. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  8. Lam, Tina (2008-09-19). "DTE applies for another nuclear plant". Detroit Free Press. Archived from the original on January 12, 2015. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  9. Dolley, Steven (2008-09-18). "Detroit Edison files with NRC for license to build new nuke unit". Platts Nucleonics Week. McGraw-Hill. Retrieved 2008-09-19.
  10. Groups petition against new nuclear plant
  11. Fermi 3 opposition takes legal action to block new nuclear reactor Archived 2010-03-30 at the Wayback Machine
  12. "Regulators OK Fermi 3, but DTE has no plans to build it".
  13. "Electricity Data Browser". www.eia.gov. Retrieved 2023-01-07.
  14. "Backgrounder on Emergency Preparedness at Nuclear Power Plants". Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Retrieved 2019-12-22.
  15. Bill Dedman, Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors, NBC News, April 14, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42555888/ns/us_news-life/t/nuclear-neighbors-population-rises-near-us-reactors/#.XPHsAehJEgw Accessed May 31, 2019.
  16. Ennis, Tricia (March 11, 2021). "Report: Cancer death rates rising near Fermi nuclear plant". ABC 13. Retrieved 2021-06-30.
  17. "Radiation Protection and the "Tooth Fairy" Issue" (PDF). nrc.gov. December 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 August 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  18. Dietrich, Pete (20 June 2021). "Yes: Fermi 2 is safe and real science proves it". The Monroe News. Archived from the original on 21 June 2021. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  19. Bill Dedman, "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk," NBC News, March 17, 2011 http://www.nbcnews.com/id/42103936 Accessed April 19, 2011.
  20. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-05-25. Retrieved 2011-04-19.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  21. Power Reactor Information System of the IAEA: „United States of America: Nuclear Power Reactors- Alphabetic“ Archived June 4, 2011, at the Wayback Machine
  22. Power Reactor Information System of the IAEA: „Nuclear Power Reactor Details - ENRICO FERMI-3“

References

  • We Almost Lost Detroit, John G. Fuller, Ballantine Books, 1976
  • Normal Accident, Charles Perrow, Basic Books, 1984
  • We Did Not Almost Lose Detroit, Earl M. Page, Published by Detroit Edison Co., 3rd Edition in May 1976
  • Some notes written by hands on principal engineer who worked at the site from 1967 to 2006.
  • Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant Hazards Summary Report
  • Enrico Fermi Atomic Power Plant 236 page booklet published by the Atomic Power Development Associates, Inc. (now defunct) in January 1959
  • Public Comments "Public Comments at the meeting re: FERMI 3 with the NRC. This includes youtube videos of speakers calling for an end to the new nuclear reactor project. Featured are a Professor from the U of M, Don't Waste Michigan members, Sierra Club members, and other concerned citizens."
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