Indiana Michigan Power completes 65-day refueling outage on Cook Nuclear Plant Unit 1

The Cook Nuclear Plant Unit 1 is back in operation in Michigan after 65 days offline.

Operated by Indiana Michigan Power, a subsidiary of American Electric Power, the plant had to undergo refueling, maintenance, testing, as well as inspection and replacement of supportive internal components for the reactor vessel known as baffle bolts. Operations included a main generator stator rewind, a reactor coolant pump motor and pump seal refurbishment, and various instrumentation and control system modernizations.

“Completing the baffle bolt work during this outage was a particularly significant milestone for us,” Joel Gebbie, senior vice president and chief nuclear officer, said. “It represents the last of a multi-year effort to ensure our reactor vessels in both units will operate safely and reliably for years to come.”

During the outage, the 1,100-person staff facility gained around 1,750 contract workers to help. Before the shutdown, the reactor had run for 463 consecutive days and generated more than 11 million megawatt-hours of electricity. With it running at full capacity again, the reactor should produce 1,074-net megawatts.