Refueling, maintenance outage planned at Cook nuclear plant

LAKE TOWNSHIP, Mich. (AP) - Operators of southwestern Michigan's Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant say one of its units is being shut down for routine refueling and maintenance.

Plant spokesman Bill Schalk says power at the Unit 1 reactor was reduced to 50 percent Sunday night for equipment testing in advance of Wednesday's start of the outage.

The Herald-Palladium of St. Joseph reports (http://bit.ly/1RwNkrF ) equipment replacement, modification and inspection work also are scheduled. Schalk says that about 1,500 contracted workers are coming to the plant to assist the 1,200 regular staff members during the outage.

Indiana Michigan Power runs the plant, which is along Lake Michigan in Berrien County's Lake Township, near Bridgman.

The Unit 2 reactor will continue to operate during the outage. Officials haven't said how long they expect the outage will last.

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Information from: The Herald-Palladium, http://www.heraldpalladium.com