BRIDGMAN, Mich., June 12, 2002 - At 1:45 p.m. today, equipment failure in American Electric Power’s (NYSE: AEP) Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant Unit 1 345 KV switchyard resulted in a fire, minor injury to one worker, and activation of the Cook Emergency Plan at the Alert level.

The fire resulted from the failure of a switchyard current transformer. The current transformer that failed does not affect the operation of either unit.

The site fire brigade responded to the fire and by 2:30 p.m. had brought the fire under control. The fire brigade is continuing to monitor the fire site. The worker who was present in the switchyard at the time of the breaker failure was transported to the local hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

The emergency plan was activated to ensure response capabilities are available.

The Donald C. Cook Nuclear Plant is a two-unit, 2,110 megawatt plant located in Bridgman, Mich.

American Electric Power is a multinational energy company based in Columbus, Ohio.