Maintenance, refueling outage finished at Cook nuclear plant

Operators of southwestern Michigan’s Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant say that one of its units has returned to service after a 34-day shutdown for refueling.

Unit 2 at the plant went back online about 2 a.m. Tuesday. Indiana Michigan Power runs the plant, which is along Lake Michigan in Berrien County’s Lake Township, near Bridgman.

The Fort Wayne, Indiana-based company says Unit 2 now is “fully compliant with all upgrades and modifications required by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission as a result of the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.”

Indiana Michigan Power says that operators carried out to major projects during the outage — replacing two 71-ton feedwater heaters and the plant’s fuel transport system.

Columbus, Ohio-based American Electric Power Co. owns Indiana Michigan Power.  (AP)