Fermi 2 Workers Reach 10 Million Safe Work Hours - and Counting

NEWPORT, Mich., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Fermi 2 Power Plant employees
Wednesday celebrated their achievement of reaching 10-million hours worked
without a single employee missing a day on the job because of a
work-related accident. The safe-work period stretches back to June 17, 2002.
The plant workforce reached the 10-million hour milestone on June 30 and the
record string of safe days has continued without interruption.
The 72-month period is the station's best performance, surpassing a
52-month stretch of 8.34 million hours from 1992 to 1996.
George MacAdam, senior safety and health engineer, said the milestone is
particularly significant because of the consistency maintained over more than
six years. "This is an impressive number," MacAdam said. "It's not every day
that such a milestone is achieved, and Fermi 2 DTE Energy employees have
something in which to be very proud."
Plant Manager Kevin Hlavaty said safety is the primary element of every
job performed in the plant and throughout the site. "Safety is first at
Fermi," he said.
Hlavaty also noted that Fermi 2 exceeds another important safety measure
-- the total industrial safety accident rate (TISAR) -- which is the official
nuclear industry safety gauge. The industry goal is a 0.2 TISAR. "We are
well below that but our goal will always be no recordable injuries," Hlavaty
said.
Training, safety meetings and preventive measures all are elements of
Fermi 2 safety culture. But MacAdam said the key to achieving a high level of
safety is that the individual employees make safety a personal priority.
"People are aware of its importance and are committed to working safely every
day, regardless of what job they are doing," he said.
The Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant is a 1,100-megawatt boiling water reactor
owned and operated by Detroit Edison, an electric utility serving more than
2.3 million customers in Southeastern Michigan.
Fermi 2 began commercial operation in 1988. Since that time, the plant
has produced more than 143 billion kilowatt hours of electricity for Detroit
Edison customers. The plant employs about 900 workers and produces about 15
percent of the power generated by Detroit Edison power plants.
Detroit Edison is an investor-owned electric utility serving 2.2 million
customers in Southeastern Michigan and a subsidiary of DTE Energy (NYSE: DTE),
a Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the development and
management of energy-related businesses and services nationwide. Information
about DTE Energy is available at www.dteenergy.com.
SOURCE DTE Energy

John Austerberry, +1-313-235-8859, or Lorie N. Kessler, +1-313-235-8807, both
of DTE Energy