Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan moves one step closer to reopening
The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in West Michigan continues on track to be the first commercial nuclear power plant in the U.S. to reopen after a shutdown, with one of the National Regulatory Commission approval steps now complete.
Holtec International acquired the 800-megawatt Palisades plant along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Covert in 2022, with initial plans to dismantle it. But those plans changed, and there are confirmed customers for the electricity from the plant.
A federal loan from the U.S. Department of Energy closed last fall, and three rounds of funding disbursements from that allocation have since been issued to Holetc. New fuel is expected to be delivered in late July or early August, the company said .
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a notice July 17 that it planned to issue a "no significant hazards consideration determination" and approve the operating license and technical specifications to support the restart of power options at Palisades.
That step took place on Thursday, .
"While these NRC approvals will allow Holtec to load fuel, there are still several licensing actions under NRC review and additional requirements that need to be met before the plant can start up," the press release said.
Palisades, which is a pressurized water reactor, first went into operation in 1971 and shut down in 2022. Many of the government documents on Palisades' operations and restart plans can be found on the .
