Nuclear

Holtec will try again to reopen Palisades nuke plant

The company previously said it understood that its bid to reopen the shuttered nuclear plant would be a challenge, as the reversal in operating status would have been a first for the industry.

Holtec International said it would again apply for the U.S. Department of Energy’s $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) program to potentially reopen Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan.  

DOE rejected the funding request in November despite support from top state lawmakers like Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“The repowering of Palisades is of vital importance to Michigan’s clean energy future,” said Holtec International in a statement posted to Twitter. The company cited “supportive feedback received” in its decision to apply for the next round of CNC funding.

Holtec said its team will remain focused on decommissioning, with a focus on managing the spent fuel removal from the spent fuel pool to dry cask storage.

Holtec bought the 805 MW Palisades in May to decommission it and applied for CNC funding. The plant, formerly owned by Entergy, was shut down last spring after generating electricity for more than 50 years.

The company previously said it understood that its bid to reopen the shuttered nuclear plant would be a challenge, as the reversal in operating status would have been a first for the industry.

ClearView Energy Partners, a nonpartisan research group, said in September that Palisades’ closure was “likely to be permanent.” Palisades was out of nuclear fuel, faced a control rod drive seal issue that needed to be fixed and likely needed a new company to operate it, as well as a buyer for the power it generates, ClearView told Reuters.