DTE Mich. Fermi 2 reactor exits outage

NEW YORK, Nov 12 (Reuters) - DTE Energy Co's (DTE.N) 1,122-megawatt Unit 2 at the Fermi power station in Michigan exited an outage and ramped up to 25 percent power by early Thursday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.

The unit shut on Sept. 30 due to hydrogen leakage in the generator. Hydrogen is used for cooling.

The 1,173-MW Fermi station is located in Newport in Monroe County, about 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Detroit. There are several units at the station including Unit 2, which entered service in 1988, and four 12- and 13-MW oil-fired turbines (1966).

In 2008, DTE filed with the NRC to build one of General Electric Co (GE.N)/Hitachi Ltd's (6501.T) 1,550-MW Economic Simplified Boiling Water Reactors (ESBWR) at Fermi. The NRC expects to decide on the construction and operating license in 2012.

Using an industry estimate, the company said the unit could cost about $10 billion. If DTE decides to move forward with the nuclear plant, it would be able to recover much of the cost from ratepayers over time.

One MW powers about 800 homes in Michigan.

DTE, of Detroit, owns and operates about 11,000 MW of generation, markets energy commodities and distributes power to 2.2 million customers and gas to 1.2 million in Michigan. (Reporting by Scott DiSavino; Editing by John Picinich)