MONROE - The Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant is capable of producing 1,130 megawatts of electricity - about one-tenth of DTE Energy's entire production capacity. So it doesn't take a nuclear scientist to figure out that it costs the utility big money to have the plant off line for any length of time.

Through good planning and job execution, the building trades and The Washington Group worked hard to complete an intensive 41-day maintenance outage that ended with Fermi 2 coming back on line May 8. More than 600 building trades workers completed a series of tasks that included valve work, pump replacement, turbine overhaul and new computer wiring.

All the work was part of DTE Energy's Refueling Outage No. 9 at Fermi 2. Every 18 months or so since 1990, the nuclear plant has been taken off line so the building trades and the Washington Group can go in and perform necessary upgrades and renovations.

"I've been here 13 years and we've made some incredibly valuable step changes over the years that have improved our efficiency," said Allen Anderson, Washington Group site manager.

A change that has most recently offered "the most significant value," Anderson said, was the willingness of workers to go through in-plant training, submit to background checks and get processed several weeks at the nuclear plant before the project began. Including non-building trades personnel who were on hand for the outage, DTE Energy had to process more than 1,000 workers before the outage began - "and the building trades getting pre-qualified helped us diffuse the bow-wave," Anderson said.

DTE Energy Vice President of Nuclear Generation Bill O'Connor said it was obvious that building trades workers realized the importance of the outage to the utility.

"I'm extremely pleased with the building trades and the Washington Group," O'Connor said. "I'm so impressed that workers left jobs that they had to help us work our outage. They showed up ready to go, and they were extremely patient with all the security rules. They hit the ground running and did some great work on some big modifications."

Building trades workers performed about 200,000 man-hours during RF09 without any "disabling injuries," Anderson said, "and help continue our record of almost four million man-hours without a lost time. This is the type of building trades workers we should all be proud of, because I know I am."

Anderson said with hometown Plumbers and Pipe Fitters Local 671 workers "leading the way," United Association pipe trades workers performed maintenance and modification work on more than 300 valves. Many of the most difficult valves to work on passed their test on the first try.

Mike Lajiness, business manager of Local 671, said about 250 fitters, welders and valve technicians were processed through the local to work the Fermi 2 outage.

"It was just a very good outage," he said. "We're always happy to support DTE Energy anywhere they need workers in their system. They've been an outstanding owner to work with. And we've also had a great relationship with Washington Group over the years."

THE FERMI 2 Nuclear Power Plant near Monroe started up in 1988 and was the 93rd nuclear power plant to be licensed in the U.S. Over the years, the building trades have been the beneficiaries of millions of dollars spent by DTE Energy for plant upgrades.

DURING THE recent 41-day refueling outage at the Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant, Pipe Fitters Local 671 members Bob Schwartz (left) and Burt Calkins (right) test a pipe snubber under the watchful eye of Jack Green, a senior test technician for Wyle Labs.