Great Strides Underpin Palisades’ March to Restart
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| We are pleased to report that the restart of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township, Michigan, continues to advance, with several recently achieved milestones reinforcing confidence in the facility’s near-term return to service. From hands-on maintenance and training areas to regulatory approvals and self-governing industry association assessments, the scope and pace of activities reflect the diligence and dedication of more than a thousand nuclear energy professionals across the site as well as those based remotely around the country engaged in bringing the plant online. The project remains a model of federal, state, community, and industry collaboration to advance safe, reliable nuclear power to meet the nation’s growing energy needs. In the next Holtec Highlights issue on Palisades, we will report on the physical refurbishment work streams that have been moving forward vigorously at the site and at our contractors’ facilities. In this issue, we summarize the environmental, regulatory, restart readiness, and other achievements that are equally critical to a timely repowering of the plant. |
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| Palisades receives full Maintenance & Technical Training accreditation |
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| NRC Issues Final Environmental Review, Confirms No Adverse Impact: In the most recent regulatory milestone, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) issued its Final Environmental Assessment (EA) and Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) on the Palisades recommissioning project, affirming that the project poses no significant environmental risk. This regulatory determination echoes past findings on Palisades and confirms the established scientific opinion that nuclear power is among the most environmentally benign sources of energy available. Although Holtec’s submittal mentioned the two SMR-300 reactors as a future part of the site, the no-significant hazard determination granted by the NRC is based only on the Palisades restart at this time. A similar environmental report will support the limited work authorization application for the two SMR-300s at the Michigan site that is targeted to be filed in Dec. 2025. |
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| Restart Readiness through Operator Training and Independent Assessment: The Palisades team continues to invest heavily in training and qualification programs that will support long-term operational excellence. The site’s Initial Licensed Operator class remains on track for NRC examinations later this month, adding to the 26 federally licensed Operators who were already successfully requalified last year. Another pipeline class of Initial Licensed Operators is underway and scheduled for testing in early 2026. |
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| Accreditation of Maintenance and Technical Training Program: In another notable development, Palisades received full accreditation for its Maintenance and Technical Training Program last week, following unanimous approval by the nation’s national accreditation board. This accreditation affirms the quality of Palisades’ training in six critical technical disciplines, namely instrumentation and control, electrical maintenance, mechanical maintenance, radiation protection, chemistry, and engineering. This accreditation completes the whole complement of accreditations required to operate the Palisades plant. (Accreditation for Operations Training was received earlier this year). |
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| Start-up Readiness Assessment: In mid-May, Palisades hosted a two-week independent startup readiness assessment with participation from 22 industry experts, drawn from the ranks of U.S. and international nuclear generators. The assessment is a key part of an industry-structured program to evaluate all aspects of a nuclear plant’s organizational readiness against the highest standards of safety and operational performance. The wisdom received from this marathon interaction with industry experts is being incorporated in our procedures and processes. We look forward to a positive conclusionary meeting with the evaluation team’s leadership this summer. |
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| Emergency Preparedness Exercises Successfully Completed: Palisades has now completed two emergency preparedness exercises as part of its planning to transition back to the emergency planning organization and procedures required for an operating U.S. nuclear plant. The site is preparing for additional drills this summer, culminating in a graded exercise evaluated by the NRC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). These activities are being carried out in close coordination with emergency management partners in Allegan, Berrien, and Van Buren counties, as well as the Michigan State Police and other municipal and public safety agencies. |
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| Kelly Trice (President), Richard Burroni (CNO) and Mike Mlynarek (SVP) |
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| We should thank Holtec’s own cadre of Engineering, IT, Cybersecurity, Procurement, Quality Control, and Quality Assurance personnel, numbering in the hundreds, who are engaged in supporting this massive project which has also benefited in no small measure from the support of several prominent industry consultants and leading nuclear plant operators. We hail the leadership of our restart program by Holtec President Kelly Trice, Chief Nuclear Officer Rich Burroni, and Palisades Site Vice President Mike Mlynarek who (pictured on this page), with more than 100 years of combined nuclear experience, stand at the center of our Palisades enterprise. |
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| We are gratified by the outpouring of solidarity and support that we have received from industry experts and by many of the nation’s nuclear generators, both by way of valuable operational advice and by the latter’s willingness to provide us with hard-to-procure spare equipment and parts from their inventories. “Their quiet contributions – along with DOE’s loan, Michigan’s grant, local community support, and the critically constructive engagement of industry associations – have made the Palisades restart a truly national enterprise for our industry. Return of Palisades to power generation would be a record-setting success that would mark the rebirth of nuclear power in the West and would serve as an enduring testament to America’s trailblazing capacity to set new plateaus of performance in nuclear energy,” asserts Holtec’s CEO and Executive Chairman, Dr. Kris Singh. |
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