Holtec’s Oct. 29 statement gave no restart date for Michigan’s Palisades nuclear plant, leaving its return timetable uncertain after Energy Secretary Chris Wright visited the site.
The National reported Wright expected the plant to be running before 2027. Michigan Public reported he described a restart as possible by late November. Holtec’s statement named no target of its own.
Holtec said it placed fuel assembly DD41 in the spent-fuel pool Oct. 21 after it tilted during refueling, completing the recovery. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) had authorized a one-time method for the transfer in an Oct. 13 license amendment. Holtec’s latest update said work remained before operations could resume but gave no timetable for finishing it.
An NRC follow-up report dated Oct. 13 found workers in supply-chain and quality-assurance roles reluctant to raise concerns, describing the departments’ atmosphere as a “chilled work environment.” The report said most Palisades personnel felt able to speak up, and inspectors found no violations or significant plant safety issues.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) closed a $1.52 billion loan to Holtec Palisades, LLC, in September 2024. Holtec identifies Michigan funding, its own investment and long-term electricity supply contracts with Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy as other project support. DOE estimated the project would support or retain 650 permanent Michigan jobs. Its estimate also included more than 2,000 supplemental workers for refueling and maintenance outages.
Palisades stopped operating in May 2022. DOE describes the project as the first effort to return a retired U.S. nuclear plant to service. The department lists the plant’s capacity at 800 megawatts; Holtec estimates about 805 megawatts. Kevin Kamps, executive director of Don’t Waste Michigan, told The National: “Once they restart this zombie reactor, all bets are off.”
