Indiana Michigan Power’s (I&M) Cook Nuclear Plant Unit 1 completed its spring 2025 refueling outage which began March 22, connecting to the transmission grid at 3:00 p.m., Wednesday. Cook’s Unit 2 remained safely at full power for the duration of the 39-day Unit 1 refueling outage.
Cook spokesperson Bill Downey summarized the major work completed:
In addition to refueling the reactor and performing regular maintenance work, the outage also included replacing a reactor coolant pump (RCP) motor, inspection and maintenance activities associated with the main turbine and main generator, and replacing important battery systems for both safety-related and non-safety-related equipment. An upgraded overspeed protection system was installed for the main turbine and main feed pump turbines.
AEP’s Executive Vice President & Chief Nuclear Officer Kelly Ferneau commented:
“This was another very successful refueling outage,” said “The time and investments we make with every outage are critical in order to meet our commitment to provide safe, clean and reliable electricity to the surrounding community. I am proud of the teamwork and professionalism shown by our employees, contractors and vendor partners, and thankful to their families who do so much to support them.”
Cook’s refueling operations are a major impact on the local economy. Over 1,000 additional contracted workers supplemented regular plant staff leading up to and during the outage. Approximately 12,500 maintenance, inspection and equipment modification job activities totaling 179,000 work-hours were completed over two daily 12-hour work shifts.
Cook Nuclear Plant is owned and operated by Indiana Michigan Power (I&M), an AEP company, headquartered in Fort Wayne, IN. At full capacity, the 1,084-net MW Unit 1, and 1,194-net MW Unit 2 combined produce enough emission-free electricity for more than one and one half million average homes. I&M’s approximately 2,000 employees serve more than 600,000 customers.
More than 85% of its total energy delivered in 2023 was emission-free. I&M has at its availability various sources of generation including 2,278 MW of nuclear generation in Michigan, 450 MW of purchased wind generation from Indiana, more than 22 MW of hydro generation in both states and approximately 35 MW of large-scale solar generation in both states. The company’s generation portfolio also includes 1,497 MW of coal-fueled generation in Indiana. For more information visit www.indianamichiganpower.com or www.cookinfo.com.
