Fermi 1 was an early sodium-cooled fast breeder reactor that suffered a partial fuel melt in 1966 and was retired in 1972. It sits in safe storage inside the operating Fermi 2 site with no spent fuel or bulk sodium left and its reactor vessel removed; the NRC estimates closure in 2032.
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Current state
| Status | SAFSTOR |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Newport, Michigan |
| Site | Fermi site |
| Units | Unit 1 |
| Unit count | 1 |
| Reactor types | FBR (sodium-cooled) |
| Owner / licensee | DTE Electric |
| Strategy | Mixed |
| Final shutdown | 1972 |
| Target completion | 2032 |
| Spent fuel | No spent fuel on site; fuel shipped offsite in 1973. |
| Notable issue | Prototype fast breeder; primary sodium removed in 1984. |
Notes
Licensee DTE Electric per its NRC decommissioning funding filing. Strategy mixed: safe storage with major components already removed.
Timeline
- 1972-11 — The Power Reactor Development Company decided to decommission Fermi 1. (source)
- 1973 — Fuel and blanket subassemblies were shipped offsite. (source)
- 1984 — Radioactive primary sodium was shipped offsite. (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.
Related sites
- Brennilis (Monts d'Arrée EL-4) Active dismantling · France
- Crystal River Unit 3 Site restoration · United States
- Dresden Unit 1 SAFSTOR · United States
- Duane Arnold Energy Center Restart planned · United States
- Fort Calhoun Station Site restoration · United States
- GE Vallecitos (VBWR and EVESR) Active dismantling · United States
- Humboldt Bay Power Plant Unit 3 License terminated · United States
- Indian Point Energy Center (Units 1-3) Active dismantling · United States
See all 72 sites in the Nuclear Decommissioning Tracker →
Sources
- Fermi - Unit 1 — U.S. NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Locations of Power Reactor Sites Undergoing Decommissioning — U.S. NRC (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Fermi 1 decommissioning funding status report (DTE Electric) — U.S. NRC (licensee filing) (primary), checked 2026-10-11