COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. — The Palisades Nuclear Plant has taken another significant step toward becoming the first shuttered nuclear facility in U.S. history to restart operations after receiving new nuclear fuel.
Owner Holtec International received 68 new fuel assemblies at the Covert Township plant, marking another milestone in the facility's transition from decommissioning to operations status. The delivery comes about two months after the Nuclear Regulatory Commission made the historic decision to reauthorize the operating license of a shuttered nuclear plant in late August.
Holtec shared a photo showing Palisades reactor engineers inspecting one of the fuel assemblies before it was moved to secure storage. The fuel was fabricated domestically by a nuclear fuel manufacturer that has supplied Palisades and others in the nuclear industry for decades. After arrival and in-depth quality inspection, the accepted batch of fuel was placed in secure storage within the Spent Fuel Pool Building where it will remain until its loading in the reactor core.
A Holtec spokesperson shared quick facts on the fuel assemblies: There are 204 fuel assemblies in the reactor when in operation. Each fuel assembly – measuring 12 feet in length – contains 216 fuel rods. Approximately 200 fuel pellets (uranium dioxide) are stacked into each fuel rod. Each fuel pellet – which is about the size of a pencil eraser – contains roughly the same energy potential as a ton of coal.
While Holtec hasn't said exactly when the power plant could restart, several major tasks remain before operations can begin, including equipment restoration work.
"The fuel will be loaded into the reactor core once plant conditions are met and restart activities are completed, and all necessary regulatory reviews are completed," Holtec said when asked for an update on the licensing process.
Reassembly of the Main Turbine Generator is underway. The plant has also received and installed the second and last fully refurbished Primary Coolant Pump motor.
"Another significant piece of restorative work is the chemical cleaning of the secondary side of the Steam Generators," Holtec said in a statement. "This work effort follows successful completion of refurbishing of the Steam Generators' tubes earlier this summer and is intended to ensure long-term reliability and efficiency of the plant."
Opposition continues
The company is also fighting those who have opposed the power plant coming back online.
Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear, said, "This is a grand nuclear experiment on the Lake Michigan shoreline, and all of us downwind and downstream are the guinea pigs."
SEE MORE: As Palisades Nuclear Plant restart nears neighbors are concerned about potential health impacts
Beyond Nuclear has fought the restart from the beginning and advocates for a shift away from nuclear energy. The organization claims Holtec hasn't taken the necessary steps to ensure the safety of the plant.
A spokesperson for Holtec pushed back, saying repairs are actively underway and all modifications related to plant safety will be completed by restart.
Beyond Nuclear says it has filed additional legal interventions since our last reporting, though the NRC Atomic Safety and Licensing Board has ruled against them every time. A spokesperson said once all administrative remedies are exhausted at NRC, they will then appeal any or all of NRC's rulings to the federal courts.
In fact, Beyond Nuclear says it has a federal lawsuit poised for filing very soon that will challenge NRC's approval of Holtec's Exemption Request, which reversed the previous owner Entergy's permanent shutdown certification.
According to the NRC, the approvals over the summer allowed Holtec to load fuel, but there are still several licensing actions under NRC review and additional requirements like repairs that need to be met before the plant can start up.
Holtec expects to generate power for more than 800,000 households and hopes to be up and running by the end of this year.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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