Holtec International has confirmed plans to restart power generation at the closed Palisades NPP next year if federal safety regulators approve its operation. “We expect to be resuming power operations in October of next year,” Michael Schultheis, Palisades regulatory and site strategies director for Holtec International, told the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) at a public meeting.
The single-unit 800 MWe pressurised water reactor at Palisades NPP began commercial operation in 1971. Operator Entergy announced in 2016 plans to close the plant. In 2021 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved transfer of the licence from Entergy to Holtec in preparation for its decommissioning. The reactor was removed from service by Entergy in May 2022, and defuelled. Its sale to Holtec was completed in June 2022 and Holtec then announced that it was applying for federal funding to allow restart of the plant.
In April, the US Department of Energy (DOE) through its Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced the offer of a conditional commitment of up to $1.52bn as a loan guarantee to restart the 800 MWe Palisades NPP in Michigan. The project aims to bring back online the Palisades plant, which ceased operations in May 2022, and to upgrade it to produce power until at least 2051, subject to NRC licensing approvals. With the conditional commitment from LPO as well as the critical financial support from both the State of Michigan and Holtec, the company said it was “on track to accelerate the tempo for a successful restart of Palisades”.
Michael Schultheis said the company is on track for restarting the plant in October, 2025, if NRC sticks to the schedule the company drawn up for the necessary inspections. A full suite of 26 operators have passed operator retest exams. Holtec now has 457 employees and 350 contractors employed and expects those numbers to rise to 600 full-time employees and 1,000 contractors when fully staffed.
He added that Holtec is replacing reactor head nozzles as a precaution and is also is replacing control rod drive seals and other vital equipment at the Palisades plant, as well as taking steps to improve fire protection. “This is a historic and important event,” he said.
