Officials say the Palisades nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan has shut down due to an equipment failure and will get an early start on a planned $58 million refueling and maintenance project.
New Orleans-based Entergy, which owns the plant, says it shut down automatically early Wednesday due to the failure in the turbine generator - a non-nuclear, non-safety related system.
Entergy says equipment functioned normally after the shutdown at the plant in Van Buren County's Covert Township on the shore of Lake Michigan.
During the refueling and maintenance outage, which originally was scheduled to start Sept. 20, about 1,000 temporary workers will assist the plant's 600 full-time employees.
Safety upgrades ordered after the Japanese nuclear accident at Fukushima in 2011 also will be made.