Fermi nuclear power plant
Fermi nuclear power plant is a nuclear power station in United States with 1 operating unit totalling 1,198 MW gross. The site has 4 units on record in total.
Units
| Unit | Status | Type | Model | Gross MW | Online |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 2 | BWR | BWR-4 (Mark 1) | 1,198 | 1988 | |
| Unit 1 | Retired | FBR | Liquid Metal FBR | 65 | 1966 |
| Unit 3 | Cancelled | BWR | ESBWR | 1,600 | - |
| Unit 3A | Cancelled | - | - | 1,171 | - |
Unit by unit
Each unit's rating, type and milestone dates as recorded by the Global Nuclear Power Tracker, with any correction we made to it. A dash or "not disclosed" means the source does not give the value.
Fermi nuclear power plant 2
| Reactor type | Boiling water reactor (BWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | BWR-4 |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,198MW |
| Net capacity | 1,115MW |
| Thermal output | 3,486MWt |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy |
| Owner | DTE Electric Co100% |
| Operator | Detroit Edison |
| Construction start | 26 Sep 1972 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 21 Jun 1985 |
| Grid connection | 21 Sep 1986 |
| Commercial operation | 23 Jan 1988 |
Live status, outage record and fuel chain for Fermi nuclear power plant 2
Fermi nuclear power plant 1 Retired
| Reactor type | Fast reactor (FBR) |
|---|---|
| Model | Liquid Metal FBR |
| Size class | Small |
| Gross capacity | 65MW |
| Net capacity | 61MW |
| Thermal output | 200MWt |
| Enrichment | 15–20% fissile, or plutonium |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Owner | Power Reactor Development Company (PRDC) (Consortium Of 34 Public Utilities)100% |
| Operator | Detroit Edison |
| Construction start | 8 Aug 1956 |
|---|---|
| First criticality | 23 Aug 1963 |
| Grid connection | 5 Aug 1966 |
| Commercial operation | 7 Aug 1966 |
| Permanent shutdown | 29 Nov 1972 |
Fermi nuclear power plant 3 Cancelled
| Reactor type | Boiling water reactor (BWR) |
|---|---|
| Model | ESBWR |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,600MW |
| Net capacity | not disclosed |
| Thermal output | not disclosed |
| Enrichment | 3–5% U-235 |
| NSSS vendor | GE Vernova Hitachi Nuclear Energy |
| Cancelled | 2019 |
| Owner | DTE Electric Co100% |
| Operator | Detroit Edison |
| Milestones | no dates on record |
|---|
Fermi nuclear power plant 3A Cancelled
| Reactor type | not disclosed |
|---|---|
| Model | not disclosed |
| Size class | Large |
| Gross capacity | 1,171MW |
| Net capacity | not disclosed |
| Thermal output | not disclosed |
| Enrichment | not established |
| NSSS vendor | not on record |
| Cancelled | 1974 |
| Owner | DTE Electric Co100% |
| Milestones | no dates on record |
|---|
Fermi nuclear power plant in context
By gross operating capacity Fermi nuclear power plant is the 42nd largest of 54 operating nuclear sites in the United States, holding 1% of the country's operating capacity, and ranks 135th of 172 worldwide.
Its operating unit started up in 1988; the unit is 38.0 years old, younger than the median of 45.0 in the United States.
The 2 units with both construction and grid dates on record took 10.0 to 14.0 years (median 12.0) from construction start to grid connection; the median across all reactors connected in the 1980s is 7.3 years.
The nearest other tracked nuclear sites are Davis Besse nuclear power plant (43 km), Perry nuclear power plant (176 km) and Palisades nuclear power plant (255 km).
The current net rating of Unit 2 differs from its design net capacity by +2.0% (1,093 MW at design, 1,115 MW now).
Build time by unit
| Unit | Construction start | Grid connection | Years | Fleet median, same decade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unit 1 | 1956 | 1966 | 10.0 | 5.0 (1960s) |
| Unit 2 | 1972 | 1986 | 14.0 | 7.3 (1980s) |
Nearest tracked nuclear sites
| Site | Country | Distance | Operating GW gross |
|---|---|---|---|
| Davis Besse nuclear power plant | United States | 43 km | 0.9 |
| Perry nuclear power plant | United States | 176 km | 1.3 |
| Palisades nuclear power plant | United States | 255 km | - |
How these are worked out: ranks use gross operating capacity; ages count from the start-up year on record, as on the age page; build times run from construction start to grid connection, as on the build-times page; ratings are the tracker's net and design net capacity, as on the uprates page. Distances are straight-line between exact positions, so a site with only an approximate position gets none. A unit missing a date or a rating is left out of the figure that needs it.
Earthquakes nearby
Loading the latest USGS check…
| Time (UTC) | Mag | Depth | Epicentre | Distance |
|---|
Magnitude 4.0 and above within 200 km of Fermi nuclear power plant's listed coordinates, past 30 days. This is distance, not shaking: it says nothing about damage or any change in operation. Every plant.
| Location | Michigan, United States |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 41.9603, -83.2577 |
| Elevation | about 180 mabove sea level |
| Setting | On the shore of a large lake, 0.3 km from the water |
| Region | Northern America |
| Units by status | Operating: 1 Retired: 1 Cancelled: 2 |
Elevation is read at the listed coordinates from a 30 m terrain model (SRTM 30 m). Two independent models differ by a median of 6 m across our plants and by up to about 40 m on steep or coastal ground, and a point on a shoreline can read as sea level. Distance to the water is measured to a generalised 1:10 million coastline, so a few kilometres or less is not resolved. This is context, not a design-basis or flood-risk figure.
| Owners | Power Reactor Development Company (PRDC) (Consortium Of 34 Public Utilities) DTE Electric Co |
|---|---|
| Operators | Detroit Edison |
Put this plant on your own page: embed a card, or compare it with another plant.
Sources
- Global Nuclear Power Tracker, Global Energy Monitor, August 2026 release , CC BY 4.0 · retrieved 2026-09-06
- GEM.wiki entry (further reading) , CC BY-SA 4.0, linked, not quoted
How these sources are used, including the corrections applied on top of them and what is deliberately left blank · download the underlying data