This comes following reports that the federal government intends to offer a $1.5 billion loan to Holtec International to restart the plant. Palisades would be the first successfully restarted nuclear plant in the U.S. if the plan is fulfilled.

The proposed budget includes a one-time general fund for a $150 million targeted investment to support efforts to reopen the 800 MW plant in Covert Township, Michigan, following the initial $150 million approved for the 2023 budget. Holtec International bought the plant in 2022 and has applied for federal dollars to help get the plant running again.

In early 2023, Holtec applied with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for federal loan funding to repower Palisades, and the Biden Administration has expressed support for extending the lives or even restarting large nuclear plants. These facilities have been retiring over the last decade because of competition from cheaper natural gas and renewables.

There is currently a $6 billion fund aimed at supporting the continued operation of U.S. nuclear plants or the reviving of already closed ones. The Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program was born out of the infrastructure bill signed into law in November 2021.

Any restart of Palisades is contingent on federal dollars coming through. Holtec officials have been quoted as saying it would take hundreds of millions of dollars for facility renovations and to buy nuclear fuel.

Holtec will officially be offered the federal loan as soon as next month, sources told Bloomberg.

In September 2023, Holtec and Wolverine Power Cooperative announced the signing of a long-term power purchase agreement, where Wolverine would purchase up to two-thirds of the power generated by Palisades for its Michigan-based member rural electric cooperatives. Indiana-based Hoosier Energy, another G&T Cooperative, would purchase the rest.

In early 2023, Holtec applied with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for federal loan funding to repower Palisades, an 800 MW plant in Covert Township, Michigan. Holtec had acquired the plant in June 2022 just after it was shutdown.

The Biden Administration has expressed support for extending the lives or even restarting large nuclear plants. These facilities have been retiring over the last decade because of competition from cheaper natural gas and renewables.

There is currently a $6 billion fund aimed at supporting the continued operation of U.S. nuclear plants or the reviving of already closed ones. The Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program was born out of the infrastructure bill signed into law in November 2021.

Any restart of Palisades is contingent on federal dollars coming through. Holtec officials have been quoted as saying it would take hundreds of millions of dollars for facility renovations and to buy nuclear fuel.

Holtec will officially be offered the loan as soon as next month, sources told Bloomberg.

A spokesperson with Holtec would not confirm or deny Bloomberg’s reporting.

“We hope for a timely approval of our loan application to bring the plant back to full power operation toward the end of 2025,” the spokesperson said. “We will not speculate on anticipated timing but are hopeful to hear a favorable decision in the near future.”

In May 2023 a bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers that make up a newly-formed nuclear energy caucus wrote a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expressing “full support” for the re-opening of Palisades.

Whitmer herself has supported reopening Palisades, a carbon-free baseload generating source as more solar and wind power infrastructure is built out.

Michigan also included $150 million to restart the plant in its latest budget passed in June 2023.

In September 2023, Holtec and Wolverine Power Cooperative announced the signing of a long-term power purchase agreement, where Wolverine would purchase up to two-thirds of the power generated by Palisades for its Michigan-based member rural electric cooperatives. Indiana-based Hoosier Energy, another G&T Cooperative, would purchase the rest.

The company participated in a public meeting Nov. 1 with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) staff to discuss the matter. Holtec is hoping to obtain a Limited Work Authorization and Construction Permit application from NRC.

Holtec’s SMR-160 is a pressurized light-water reactor, generating 160 MWe/525 MWt using low-enriched uranium fuel, which could also produce process heat for industrial applications and hydrogen production.

It’s unclear how many SMR units Holtec plans to pursue at the Palisades site.

“Our company will continue to engage the agency as we work through pre-application activities,” a statement sent by Holtec reads in part. “The company has previously observed that former power plant sites – both nuclear and non-nuclear – may be ideal candidates for citing SMR, such as at Palisades.”

Holtec is targeting the end of the decade for SMR deployment.

The company acquired Palisades nuclear plant in June 2022 just after it was shut down. Holtec wants to restart the plant, but this is contingent on federal dollars to get the plant up and running again. In early 2023, Holtec applied with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for federal loan funding to repower Palisades.

Federal energy officials are reviewing the $1 billion grant application, expected to be the primary investment in the nuclear plant restart.

In September Holtec and Wolverine Power Cooperative announced the signing of a long-term power purchase agreement that would allow the restart of the 800 MW plant.

Wolverine would purchase up to two-thirds of the power generated by Palisades for its Michigan-based member rural electric cooperatives. Indiana-based Hoosier Energy, another G&T Cooperative, would purchase the rest.

Palisades is now closer to becoming the first successfully restarted nuclear power plant in the U.S. Holtec acquired the plant in June 2022 just after it was shutdown.

“We are thrilled to enter into this partnership,” said Kelly Trice, President of Holtec Nuclear Generation and Decommissioning. “With key support from federal partners, Governor Whitmer, the Michigan legislature, and the local plant community, this will soon be a reality.”

But any restart is contingent on federal dollars to get the plant up and running again. In early 2023, Holtec applied with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office for federal loan funding to repower Palisades.

Federal energy officials are reviewing the $1 billion grant application, expected to be the primary investment in the nuclear plant restart. Holtec officials have been quoted as saying it would take hundreds of millions of dollars for facility renovations and to buy nuclear fuel.

Holtec also said it has participated in several public meetings with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff to discuss finding an NRC-licensed operator for the plant.

In May a bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers that make up a newly-formed nuclear energy caucus wrote a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expressing “full support” for the re-opening of Palisades.

Whitmer herself has supported reopening Palisades, a carbon-free baseload generating source as more solar and wind power infrastructure is built out.

Michigan also included $150 million to restart the plant in its latest budget passed in June.

Some activists who long criticized Palisades as poorly maintained and dangerous don’t want it resurrected.

Earlier this year 43 organizations representing Indigenous, climate, environmental, Great Lakes and water protection, social and racial justice and other interests recently wrote a letter to all Michigan state legislators, urging them to reject state funding aimed at reopening the plant.

Palisades began commercial operation in 1971.

Holtec International bought the plant in 2022 and has applied for federal dollars to help get the plant running again. It hopes to tap a $6 billion fund at the Department of Energy earmarked to preserve the U.S. nuclear reactor fleet and associated jobs.

Federal energy officials are reviewing the $1 billion grant application, expected to be the primary investment in the nuclear plant restart. Holtec officials have been quoted as saying it would take hundreds of millions of dollars for facility renovations and to buy nuclear fuel.

In May a bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers that make up a newly-formed nuclear energy caucus wrote a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer expressing “full support” for the re-opening of Palisades nuclear plant.

Whitmer herself has supported reopening Palisades, a carbon-free baseload generating source as more solar and wind power infrastructure is built out.

But activists who long criticized Palisades as poorly maintained and dangerous don’t want it resurrected.

43 organizations representing Indigenous, climate, environmental, Great Lakes and water protection, social and racial justice and other interests recently wrote a letter to all Michigan state legislators, urging them to reject state funding aimed at reopening the plant.

“We have the chance to make history by successfully repowering a non-operational nuclear power plant, becoming the first state in American history to accomplish such a feat,” state lawmakers wrote. “The successful re-powering of Palisades would immediately provide safe, carbon-free, and reliable energy to a grid that desperately needs more baseload generation.”

The 800 MW Palisades nuclear power plant is currently being decommissioned. Holtec International bought the plant in 2022 and shuttered it with an eye toward decommissioning the facility under an agreement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

However, Holtec more recently applied for federal dollars to help get the plant running again. It hopes to tap a $6 billion fund at the Department of Energy earmarked to preserve the U.S. nuclear reactor fleet and associated jobs.

We previously reported that Michigan could chip in as much $300 million to help restart Palisades. Holtec officials were quoted as saying it would take hundreds of millions of dollars for facility renovations and to buy nuclear fuel.

Palisades, located in Covert, Michigan, began commercial operation in 1971.

Holtec International bought the plant in 2022 and shuttered it with an eye toward decommissioning the facility under an agreement with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Holtec has applied for federal dollars to help get the plant running again. It hopes to tap a $6 billion fund at the Department of Energy earmarked to preserve the U.S. nuclear reactor fleet and associated jobs.

Nuclear energy is considered key to meeting Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) climate goals as more solar and wind power infrastructure is built out. A spokesperson was quoted as saying the nuclear plant is a “critical energy source and economic driver” for the region and that the governor’s office was in touch with Holtec and working to secure federal funding.

Local climate advocates also reportedly support the plant for its ability to generate emission-free electricity.

State money could be used as bridge funding to pay for restart efforts at Palisades. Federal energy officials are reviewing a $1 billion grant application, expected to be the primary investment in the nuclear plant restart.

Holtec officials were quoted as saying it would take hundreds of millions of dollars for facility renovations and to buy nuclear fuel.

New nuclear?

Michigan utility regulators are studying whether the state should build more nuclear power plants. A draft report is expected by year’s end.

The Energy Department’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program was created by the infrastructure bill signed into law in November 2021. The program allows reactor owners and operators to apply for and bid on credits to support their continued operations.

While the first award cycle limited eligibility to owners or operators of reactors that had announced intentions to retire within the four-year award period, the second cycle expanded eligibility to those that were at risk of closing by the end of the four-year award period, including reactors that stopped operating after Nov. 15, 2021.

That opened up an opportunity for the Palisades nuclear plant to re-open. Previously owned by Entergy, the 800 MW plant was shut down in May 2022 and ownership transferred to Holtec International for decommissioning.

California lawsuit

Meanwhile, in California an environmental group on April 11 sued to block Pacific Gas & Electric from seeking to extend the federal operating licenses for California’s last nuclear power plant.

According to the Associated Press, a complaint filed in San Francisco Superior Court by Friends of the Earth asked the court to prohibit the utility from sidestepping a 2016 agreement with environmentalists and plant workers to close the twin-domed Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant by 2025.

The possibility of a longer operating run emerged last year after Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Legislature opened the way for PG&E to seek an extended lifespan for the twin reactors. The company intends to apply to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission by the end of the year to extend operations by as much as two decades.

The operating license for the Unit 1 reactor expires next year and the Unit 2 license expires in 2025.

PG&E said in a statement it had not yet seen the lawsuit, but that as a regulated utility it will follow state policy.

The lawsuit marks the latest development in a long-running fight over the operation and safety of the decades-old plant, which Newsom says should keep running beyond 2025 to ward off possible blackouts as California transitions to solar and other renewable energy sources.

Holtec International and Hyundai Engineering & Construction (Hyundai E&C) are launching an effort to accelerate the design of Holtec’s SMR-160 small modular reactor.

The signing ceremony Oct. 18 at Holtec’s Technology Campus in Camden, New Jersey builds on the companies’ 2021 agreement to work together on the SMR-160 design. Holtec said the small nuclear reactor would be deployable in most regions of the world without any significant modifications, reducing the time for the plant’s commissioning.

The teams want to pair the SMR-160 with a solar and energy storage system dubbed the Green Boiler. The facility would store surplus energy from the SMR-160 power plant and from the grid during periods of excess generation, dispatching the energy when needed.

The SMR-160 is a pressurized light-water reactor, generating 160 MWe/525 MWt using low-enriched uranium fuel, which could also produce process heat for industrial applications and hydrogen production. The partners aim to install SMR-160-centered ecosystems in over fifteen countries.

In July 2022, Holtec submitted a loan application to U.S. Department of Energy for a $7.4 billion program to help build four SMR-160s. Funding would also allow Holtec to expand the output capacity of its existing advanced manufacturing plant in New Jersey and to establish a new giga-factory to manufacture SMR-160s.

Holtec has also entered into an agreement with Entergy to evaluate the possibility of deploying one or more SMR-160s at Entergy sites.

In addition to Entergy’s service area as a potential location, the loan application also mentions building the first SMR-160 at Holtec’s Oyster Creek plant site (purchased from Exelon in 2018) in New Jersey.  It said the new high-capacity manufacturing plant “will likely be located” in the region where the first SMR-160s is deployed.  

The Holtec and Hyundai E&C team is being supported by Kiewit and Mitsubishi Electric.

The utility said the small modular reactor could potentially help its meet its net-zero. Holtec’s domestic manufacturing capacity, balance sheet and performance in supporting Entergy’s operating fleet also factored in its decision.

In March, the U.S. Department of Energy approved the first part of Holtec International’s $7.4 billion loan application to build small modular reactors and invited the company to apply for a federal loan to help build four SMR-160s and to expand the company’s manufacturing capacity to build the first wave of nuclear reactors in large numbers.

Holtec submitted its final application on July 19. It included plans to expand the output capacity of an existing manufacturing plant in Camden, NJ, and establish a new factory to manufacture SMR-160s. It said the advanced manufacturing capabilities located in Camden will be enlarged with additional machining, robotic welding, and material handling equipment to increase the throughput of SMR-160 components to help meet a projected rise in demand over the next decade.  

It said the proposed “giga-manufacturing facility,” to be built at a yet-unidentified location, would be a larger version of the heavy fabrication plant at Holtec’s Camden technology headquarters.  

In addition to Entergy’s service area as a potential location, the loan application also mentions building the first SMR-160 at Holtec’s Oyster Creek plant site (purchased from Exelon in 2018) in New Jersey.  It said the new high-capacity manufacturing plant “will likely be located” in the region where the first SMR-160s is deployed.  

Holtec’s CEO, Dr. Kris Singh, said the stalled clean energy bill in Congress “remains critical for launching the rise of unconditionally safe SMR plants in the U.S.” Singh called on Congress to repeat the “great success story of solar energy” with new nuclear which holds an even greater promise for carbon mitigation.    

Holtec’s coordination with the DOE Loan Programs Office is being led by its wholly owned subsidiary, Holtec Government Services .

Palisades, located in Covert Michigan, shut down in May after more than 50 years in service. The plant had just completed a production run of 577 straight days of operation. 

The sale of the Palisades plant completes what Entergy said was its planned exit from the nuclear merchant power business, and follows the closure and sale of the Vermont Yankee, Pilgrim and Indian Point plants and the sale of the operating James A. Fitzpatrick plant.

Entergy first announced the planned closure of Palisades in 2016 to focus on its utility operations in the Gulf South. Under terms of the sale, Holtec International agreed to hire around 260 current Palisades employees for the first phase of decommissioning. Another 180 employees at Palisades will be let go. Entergy said that more than half of those employees are eligible for retirement.

Big Rock Point, located in Charlevoix Michigan, shut down in 1997 and was decommissioned in the early 2000’s. Only the used fuel remains at the Big Rock Point site. 

The Palisades decommissioning project is intended to have a 19-year timeline, with the projected completion of transfer of fuel from wet to dry storage by 2025. The balance of the dismantling and decommissioning operations is expected to be aligned with ongoing work at Oyster Creek, Pilgrim and Indian Point sites. 

In accordance with NRC rules, decommissioning must be completed within 60 years of the plant ceasing operations. The nuclear site owner (or licensee) may choose from three decommissioning strategies: DECON, SAFSTOR or ENTOMB. Historically, some nuclear plant owners have selected to place the plant in SAFSTOR, an option that allows the nuclear plant to be shuttered for several decades before decommissioning and site restoration is completed.

Completion of Palisades decommissioning expected to make the 400+ acre site fit for commercial/industrial use, except for a parcel of land where the dry storage casks will be stored.  Holtec said it hopes to ship the storage canisters to its proposed consolidated interim storage facility in Southeastern New Mexico, called HI-STORE CISF, which is undergoing the final stage of licensing review by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). 

In mid-July, the NRC issued its final environmental review of the project. The review found no environmental reasons that would prevent Holtec from building the multibillion-dollar facility to temporarily store tons of spent nuclear fuel from commercial power plants around the nation. A safety review of the proposed project is still pending by the NRC.

Holtec is now the licensed operator and owner of the Oyster Creek and Pilgrim sites. A license transfer application has been submitted for Entergy’s Indian Point Energy Center.

Part of the decommissioning process involves moving spent nuclear fuel from the spent fuel pool to an onsite dry storage facility called an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation. Holtec said that while this process used to five or more years after reactor shutdown, its use of dry storage systems allows the transfer to be done in fewer than three years. It said that other decommissioning activities can be started sooner and performed more efficiently.

The Holtec web site said that the financial performance of the decommissioning trust fund is “inextricably tied” to the financial markets. It said that a “sharp and sustained slump” in the market “certainly has the potential” to disrupt the pace of the decommissioning work. It said that funds are managed in an effort to ensure that short-term expenditures are invested in bonds and other more stable financial instruments, to limit any impact from a market downturn.