Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant
Big Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant
Consumers Power Company (later
Consumers Energy) opened the Big
Rock Point Nuclear Power Plant just
west of here in 1962. It was the
world's first high- power density
boiling water reactor, and the fifth
commercial nuclear power plant in
the U.S. The plant began as a
research and development facility,
with the first goal being to prove
that nuclear power was economical. In
addition to generating electricity,
the reactor produced cobalt 60 that
was used to treat an estimated
400,000 cancer patients. In 1991 the
American Nuclear Society named the
plant a Nuclear Historic Landmark.
When it closed in 1997, Big Rock
was the longest running nuclear plant
in the U.S. Consumers Energy later
restored the site to a natural area.