Palisades plant set for historic nuclear restart with $400M federal investment boost

COVERT TWP. — The Palisades Nuclear Plant, a facility shut down just two years ago, is poised to become the first U.S. commercial nuclear power reactor ever to be restarted, a result of a $400 million investment announced Dec. 2 by the U.S. Department of Energy and Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

Proponents hail the federal funding as a validation of Michigan's role as a clean energy leader; opponents have filed a lawsuit against it, claiming the plant’s owner inappropriately took billions in public funds.

The new investment will finance the historic recommissioning of the original reactor and the deployment of two advanced small modular reactors at the Lake Michigan site. 

The combined effort is projected to nearly double the site's capacity, supplying enough carbon-free electricity to power approximately 1.4 million Michigan households and businesses, according to the governor’s office. 

The $400 million is the latest addition to a vast federal commitment to Holtec International, the plant's owner, which includes a $1.52 billion Department of Energy loan guarantee and over $1.3 billion from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, aimed at lowering energy costs for rural electric cooperatives like Wolverine Power.

“This historic investment will double Palisades’ capacity, provide more clean energy for Michigan homes and businesses, and protect 900 good-paying Michigan jobs,” Whitmer said in a statement. “(It) will lower energy costs, reaffirm Michigan’s clean energy leadership, and show the world that we are the best place to do business.”

A dual-technology energy hub

The facility, located in Van Buren County's Covert Township, will combine established and advanced nuclear technology for a total baseload power capacity of 1,400 megawatts:

• Original reactor restart: The 800-MW pressurized water reactor that ceased operation in May 2022 is being prepared for recommissioning, an unprecedented feat in U.S. nuclear history.
• Next-generation SMRs: Holtec plans to deploy two of its advanced SMR-300 reactors, each capable of generating 300 MW.

Holtec purchased the facility in June 2022 with the initial intent to decommission it, but reversed course amid political and environmental pressure to retain the major source of carbon-free power. 

The $1.9 billion in combined direct federal and state funding is the financial backbone of this resurrection, which aims to extend the plant’s operational life to at least 2051.

Legal, technical opposition mounts

While some are celebrating the announcement, several environmental groups have filed a federal lawsuit to block the restart, accusing Holtec of a "bait-and-switch" for seeking billions in subsidies after initially planning to dismantle the facility. 

The complaint was filed in Grand Rapids federal court by organizations including Beyond Nuclear, Don’t Waste Michigan and Michigan Safe Energy Future.

“In our view, Holtec lacks both the operational experience and demonstrated accountability required to merit public trust. If Holtec wishes to pursue these ventures, it should do so using private capital — not public funds,” Michigan Safe Energy Future said on its website. 

In stark contrast to the governor’s statement, Kevin Kamp, a radioactive waste specialist for Beyond Nuclear, said Holtec’s “unprecedented zombie restart” would jumpstart a reactor that was designed in the 1960s, which could bring unknown risks.

Kamp pointed to infamous nuclear disasters throughout history, including a partial core meltdown at Fermi Unit 1 in Monroe County in 1966 and the Three Mile Island Unit 2 meltdown in 1979 in Pennsylvania.

“Just imagine what havoc could be wreaked by two 300 MW-e reactors — each 4.5 times larger — at Palisades going forward,” Kamp said.

The planned restart is rooted in a history marked by operational challenges and a premature shutdown that shocked many in Michigan. The plant first connected to the grid in 1971.

From its initial commercial operation, the facility was plagued by persistent issues: within 13 months of opening, it suffered a radioactive leak in its steam generators, leading to a year-long shutdown, previous media reports indicated. 

Despite having a license valid through 2031, its previous owner, Entergy, closed it in May 2022, citing financial pressures from inexpensive natural gas and the dynamics of the deregulated electricity market. The current federal and state effort aims to resurrect the facility and safeguard regional economic stability.

Kamp noted a lengthy documented history of multiple radioactive leaks and exposures that occurred at Palisades over the decade leading up to the plant’s decommissioning, including a radiation incident involving workers in 2014, leading to the NRC downgrading the plant from a top-tier reactor.

“Palisades has a long list of breakdown phase risks,” Kamp said. “The Palisades zombie reactor has multiple pathways to reactor core meltdown, which would unleash catastrophic amounts of hazardous ionizing radioactivity into the environment, on the beach of Lake Michigan, drinking water supply for 16 million people along its shores, and more than 40 million people downstream and downwind, up the food chain, and down the generations throughout the Great Lakes region.”

If the Palisades were to melt down, thousands would be at risk of radiation poisoning and billions in property damage.

Parts of Allegan County in Casco Township are within a 10-mile radius Emergency Planning Zone — the prime area where people could be affected by a radiation leak from the plant, and evacuations would be most likely in an emergency.

The rest of the county, as well as Holland and Ottawa County, are in a 50-mile secondary emergency zone, where people could receive indirect exposure to radiation through contaminated food and water if there were a radiation leak.

Kamp said a 1982 report said a Palisades meltdown would cause a thousand acute radiation poisoning deaths, 7,000 radiation injuries, 10,000 latent cancer fatalities, and $52 billion in property damage — and that would be much more now. 

“Adjusting for inflation alone, property damage would now exceed $168 billion,” he said. “And since populations have increased around Palisades in the past 43 years, casualty figures would be significantly worse, as more people now live in harm’s way.”

— Heather VanDyke covers northern Ottawa County for the Ottawa News Network. Contact her at hvandyke@ottawanewsnetwork.org.