Fermi Nuclear Power Plant, Michigan

The Fermi Nuclear Power Plant is adjacent to Lake Erie, midway between Toledo and Detroit. It has two reactors, Fermi 1 and Fermi 2. Fermi 1 went online in 1963, and was taken off line in 1972. It was a fast breeder reactor, one of only two of this type used for commercial power generation in the U.S., employing liquid sodium for cooling. It had a net output capacity of 61MW, and was operated by Detroit Edison Company on behalf of owner Power Reactor Development Company. It had a number of issues, and was off-line for at least four of those years, some of which were described in a book resulting in a book by John Fuller called "We Almost Lost Detroit," as well as a song by Gil Scott-Heron bearing the same name. The other reactor, Fermi 2, is still online, and is a common type of boiling water reactor, whose output capacity is around 1095MW. It went online in 1985, and is operated by DTE Energy. It has two 400-ft cooling towers, common features at the plants.