See map of all nuclear power sites in the Great Lakes watershed - MLive.com
See map of all nuclear power sites in the Great Lakes watershed - mlive.com
Within the watershed of the largest surface freshwater system on the planet, there are 23 nuclear power plants, four sites for mining uranium, six for uranium processing and 12 places nuclear waste is stored.
Michigan currently has two operational nuclear plants – DTE Energy’s Fermi 2 plant on Lake Erie near Monroe and American Electric Power’s Donald C. Cook plant on Lake Michigan in Berrien County near Bridgman.
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.