The Cook Nuclear Plant

The Cook Nuclear Plant is located on 650 acres along Lake Michigan's eastern shoreline. The tract is part of the world's largest formation of freshwater dunes. The plant is owned and operated by AEP.

The construction permit for the plant was granted by the Atomic Energy Commission in 1969. It was one of the largest construction projects ever in the state of Michigan with over 2,000 workers at the site. The plant was named for the late Donald C. Cook, a Michigan native, and former chairman of the board of American Electric Power. Unit 1 began commercial operation in August of 1975, and Unit 2 in July of 1978. Construction cost for both units was 1.3 billion dollars.

Both units are pressurized water reactors. The 1,048 net megawatt (MW) Unit 1 and 1,107 net MW Unit 2 combined produce enough electricity for more than one and one half million average homes. The American Electric Power Service Corporation served as architect and engineer for the project. The nuclear steam supply system for both units were designed and built by Westinghouse Corporation. The turbine generators for Unit 1 and Unit 2 were purchased from General Electric Company and Brown Boveri Corporation respectively.

AEP's nuclear generation group is headquartered in Buchanan, Michigan. The building, located twenty miles from the plant, also houses some of the nuclear plant's emergency plan facilities. Approximately 900 AEP employees work at the plant, and 100 AEP employees work at the Buchanan office.

American Electric Power is one of the largest electric utilities in the United States, delivering electricity to more than 5 million customers in 11 states. AEP ranks among the nation’s largest generators of electricity, owning nearly 38,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the U.S. AEP also owns the nation’s largest electricity transmission system, a nearly 39,000-mile network that includes more 765 kilovolt extra-high voltage transmission lines than all other U.S. transmission systems combined. AEP’s transmission system directly or indirectly serves about 10 percent of the electricity demand in the Eastern Interconnection, the interconnected transmission system that covers 38 eastern and central U.S. states and eastern Canada, and approximately 11 percent of the electricity demand in ERCOT, the transmission system that covers much of Texas. AEP’s utility units operate as AEP Ohio, AEP Texas, Appalachian Power (in Virginia and West Virginia), AEP Appalachian Power (in Tennessee), Indiana Michigan Power, Kentucky Power, Public Service Company of Oklahoma, and Southwestern Electric Power Company (in Arkansas, Louisiana and east Texas). AEP’s headquarters are in Columbus, Ohio.