Holtec’s effort to bring Michigan’s shuttered Palisades nuclear plant back online is moving ahead, with plans to generate 800 MW by year’s end, pending NRC approval. (Michigan NPR)
Siemens engineers are deep into turbine inspections, and DOE’s $1.52 billion loan guarantee remains in place. But local residents are raising concerns about the plant’s safety record—a 2023 inspection uncovered defects in 1,000+ steam generator tubes.
If approved, Palisades would become the first US plant to return from decommissioning. But as federal ambitions to revive nuclear scale up, this project is exposing just how politically and technically complex restarts really are.