New Projects - Nuclear

Holtec to build its first two SMR-300 units at at Palisades nuclear site

Holtec wants to restart the shuttered large-reactor plant by the end of 2025.
Holtec to build its first two SMR-300 units at at Palisades nuclear site
Holtec’s Dual-Unit SMR-300 Small Modular Nuclear Plant in Perspective View (Credit: Holtec)

Holtec plans to build its first two SMR-300 small modular reactors at the Palisades Nuclear Plant site, with the first commissioned by mid-2030, the company said.

Holtec purchased the shuttered Palisades plant in 2022 and wants to restart it. Twin SMR-300 reactors would each add 300 MW of power at the site in Covert Township, Michigan. The existing Palisades plant went into operation in 1971 and generated 800 MW before it was retired.

Holtec’s SMR is a pressurized water reactor producing around 300 MW of electrical power or 1050 MW of thermal power for process applications. Holtec said it has undergone several design evolutions since 2011, including the incorporation of forced flow capability overlayed on gravity-driven flow in the plant’s primary system.

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Holtec said the existing large-reactor plant is refurbished with an array of enhancements, and the company is targeting a return-to-service date for the end of 2025.

The plant’s restart has received bipartisan support, including from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer. The state also included $150 million to restart the plant in its latest budget.

Holtec has asked the NRC to reinstate its operating license for the plant and to re-hire staff.

But the effort needs federal funding, expected to be the primary investment in the plan’s restart. Holtec 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 still reviewing the company’s $1 billion grant application. Holtec officials have been quoted as saying it would take hundreds of millions of dollars for facility renovations and to buy nuclear fuel.

In September, Holtec and Wolverine Power Cooperative announced the signing of a long-term power purchase agreement involving the 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.

The filing of the Construction Permit Application for the two SMRs is targeted for 2026, shortly after the existing Palisades plant would return to service.