The U.S. Division of Vitality’s (DOE’s) Mortgage Packages Workplace (LPO) introduced a conditional dedication of as much as $1.52 billion for a mortgage assure to Holtec Palisades LLC to finance the restoration and resumption of service of the Palisades Energy Plant, an 800-MW nuclear producing station in Covert Township, Michigan (Determine 1).
The mission goals to convey the single-reactor unit again into industrial operation by the tip of 2025. It was retired by earlier proprietor Entergy in Might 2022. If finalized, Holtec Palisades could be the primary recommissioning of a shutdown nuclear energy plant within the U.S.
“Holtec is dedicated to serving to the nuclear and vitality industries meet challenges and discover options. Repowering Palisades helps guarantee we’ve got sufficient dependable, around-the-clock electrical energy to maintain the lights on for Michigan households and small companies whereas additionally serving to mitigate local weather change by way of protected, dependable, and carbon-free era,” Nick Culp, Palisades Nuclear Producing Station’s senior supervisor for Governmental Affairs with Holtec Decommissioning Worldwide, instructed POWER. “Our repower efforts have been buoyed by the robust broad-based assist this effort has obtained from our federal, state, and neighborhood companions who acknowledge the strategic significance of the plant to the state and nation’s clear vitality future.”
The DOE mentioned the Palisades mission highlights President Biden’s “Investing in America” agenda to “assist good-paying, high-quality job alternatives in communities throughout the nation whereas additionally increasing entry to reasonably priced clear vitality sources.” The mission is anticipated to assist or retain as much as 600 jobs in Michigan––a lot of them crammed by employees who’ve been on the plant for greater than 20 years––with roughly 45% of the workforce on the web site being union labor upon restart. Along with the employees supported by the power’s restart, if finalized, the mortgage assure would assist greater than 1,000 jobs through the facility’s frequently scheduled refueling and upkeep durations each 18 months.
A Lengthy Historical past (to Be Continued?)
The Palisades facility has an extended historical past. Plans for the plant’s development had been first introduced in January 1966. The station features a pressurized water reactor designed and manufactured by Combustion Engineering, and it has a Westinghouse turbine-generator. The architect-engineer/constructor was Bechtel Energy Corp.
Web site excavation started in August 1966, first concrete was poured in March 1967, and the reactor vessel was delivered to the positioning on Oct. 22, 1968. The primary nuclear chain response at Palisades occurred on Might 24, 1971, and the primary industrial energy era came about on Dec. 31, 1971. The unit has a most reliable capability of 798 MW, however its file hourly output was 821 MWh, which occurred on Jan. 15, 2006.
On the time of its ultimate shutdown, Entergy was the proprietor and operator of the plant. The corporate had bought it from Shoppers Vitality in April 2007 for $380 million. The acquisition additionally included receipt of the used gas at Shoppers’ decommissioned Massive Rock Level Nuclear Plant, situated in Charlevoix in northwestern Decrease Michigan. Entergy truly acquired a number of nuclear vegetation in areas the place wholesale markets operated after deregulation considerably modified the electrical business within the late Nineteen Nineties. At its peak, the corporate operated six service provider nuclear items, with about 5,000 MW of capability, together with 5 nuclear items in its regulated corporations, additionally representing about 5,000 MW.
However the service provider enterprise proved to be difficult for Entergy. In December 2016, Entergy proposed retiring the Palisades plant by 2018 as a part of a much bigger plan for the corporate to exit the service provider nuclear era enterprise altogether. These plans modified in September 2017 after the Michigan Public Service Fee mentioned it might solely grant partial restoration ($136.6 million) of the $172 million Shoppers Vitality had requested for the buyout of an influence buy settlement it had with Entergy for Palisades’ output.
Palisades Shutdown and Transferred
Ultimately, Palisades was taken offline for the ultimate time on Might 20, 2022. The shutdown accomplished a record-setting run on the web site—the unit had repeatedly generated electrical energy for 577 consecutive days since its final refueling, which was additionally a world file for a plant of its type. Notably, Palisades was ranked within the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Fee’s (NRC’s) highest security class, and Entergy mentioned the station was regarded by its friends as one of many prime performers within the business.
Following the elimination of used gas from the Palisades reactor, the power was transferred to Holtec Worldwide on June 28, 2022, “for functions of a protected and well timed decommissioning.” Holtec was anticipated to finish the dismantling, decontamination, and remediation of Palisades to NRC requirements by 2041.
But, efforts to avoid wasting the Palisades plant shortly started. Holtec utilized for monetary assist by way of the Civil Nuclear Credit score Program, a $6 billion fund designed to assist protect the present U.S. reactor fleet and save hundreds of high-paying jobs throughout the nation. This system was made attainable by the passing of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation. Holtec additionally obtained backing from Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who wrote a letter to Vitality Secretary Jennifer Granholm on Sept. 9, 2022, in assist of Holtec’s plans to repower and reopen Palisades.
In September 2023, Holtec and Wolverine Energy Cooperative, a not-for-profit energy era cooperative, agreed on a long-term deal, with Wolverine committing to buy as much as two-thirds of the ability generated by Palisades for its Michigan-based member rural electrical cooperatives. Wolverine’s non-profit rural electrical cooperative mission accomplice, Hoosier Vitality, an alliance of 18 member cooperatives serving 59 counties throughout central and southern Indiana and southeastern Illinois, would buy the steadiness. At this time’s announcement brings Palasades’ rebirth one other step nearer to fruition.
Pleasure Surrounds Recommissioning
“Palisades is coming again,” Gov. Whitmer mentioned in an announcement issued to POWER by her press secretary. “Due to an efficient collaboration between the Biden-Harris administration, the State of Michigan, the Michigan Legislature, and Holtec, work will start shortly to restart operations at Palisades. As soon as full, Palisades will grow to be the primary efficiently restarted nuclear energy plant in American historical past, defending 600 union jobs on the plant, 1,100 locally, and entry to wash, dependable energy for 800,000 properties. We’ll lead and construct the longer term right here in Michigan with our 100% clear vitality by 2040 commonplace, the strongest clear vitality labor requirements within the nation, and instruments to construct extra renewable vitality sooner. Let’s hold getting it achieved.”
“Palisades’ carbon-free era is important to each Michigan and the USA attaining their clear local weather targets whereas sustaining around-the-clock reliability to fulfill future demand,” added Culp. “The mission is anticipated to keep away from 4.47 million tons of CO2 emissions per 12 months—along with different noxious greenhouse gases—for a complete of 111 million tons of CO2 over the subsequent 25 years.”
Along with the primary 800-MW reactor, Holtec has plans to make use of the Palisades web site as the placement for its first two small modular reactor (SMR) items, which won’t be a part of the mission that could be financed beneath this conditional dedication. The 2 items will probably add an extra 800 MW of era capability on the web site, benefit from current infrastructure, and spur the home growth of recent reactor applied sciences, which the DOE says is essential to combatting the local weather disaster.
Nonetheless, a lot work must be achieved to convey the present unit again into service. “Since final 12 months, we’ve got participated in a collection of public conferences with U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Fee workers on our proposed reauthorization of energy operations at Palisades. We now have made a number of key filings with the NRC to put out the trail to reauthorize the repowering of Palisades inside the Company’s current regulatory framework. Amongst many issues, the repower entails rehiring the plant workforce, reestablishing our coaching program, and vital funding in plant inspections, preventative upkeep, upgrades, and modifications,” defined Culp.
There may be hope, nevertheless, that the work can progress pretty shortly. “We stay on monitor to repower the plant by the tip of 2025, pending all needed federal regulatory critiques and approvals,” Culp mentioned. Upgrades are anticipated to maintain the Palisades unit in operations till a minimum of 2051, topic to NRC licensing approvals.
Detractors Persist
But, not everyone seems to be happy with the prospect of Palisades returning to service. The group Past Nuclear, a nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership group that “goals to teach and activate the general public concerning the connections between nuclear energy and nuclear weapons and the necessity to abandon each to safeguard our future,” issued a prolonged diatribe railing towards the Palisades mission.
“Underneath this rushed schedule, there isn’t any attainable manner for Holtec to finish all of the decades-long overdue system repairs, refurbishment, replacements, and safety-critical upgrades earlier proprietor Entergy by no means bought round to, over the 15 years of its possession of Palisades, after which finally merely walked away from. Given Palisades’ age-related degradation, a few of these wanted fixes, akin to on the embrittled reactor strain vessel, are too costly and even inconceivable to do. These are the sorts of overwhelming challenges which have led to the record-breaking variety of atomic reactor shutdowns in North America up to now decade. Palisades ought to stay closed for good,” Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist with Past Nuclear, mentioned in a press launch issued by the group.
“Palisades has had a distinguished file of protected and dependable operation. On the time of shutdown, Palisades ranked within the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Fee’s highest security class, was acknowledged as a prime performing plant inside the business, and accomplished consecutive record-breaking manufacturing runs. That’s each a testomony to the wonderful materials situation of the plant in addition to to the working expertise and {qualifications} of our plant workforce, who’re onsite and returning. Like all industrial nuclear vegetation in the USA, a repowered Palisades would proceed to function beneath the impartial federal oversight of the Nuclear Regulatory Fee,” Culp countered.
“We now have been impressed with the U.S. Division of Vitality’s mortgage utility course of. As a part of the mortgage utility course of, the Palisades repower has undergone rigorous monetary, technical, authorized, and market evaluation by the U.S. Division of Vitality’s skilled workers, which incorporates certified engineers, monetary, and authorized specialists, in addition to professional third-party advisors,” he added.
Return to Service A lot Sooner Than New-Construct
As a result of the plant’s infrastructure already exists, the Palisades mission doesn’t contain conventional main development actions, however it’ll require inspections, testing, refurbishment, rebuilding, and alternative of current tools. Holtec is at the moment pursuing a reauthorization of the Palisades working license with the NRC, the Federal company chargeable for regulating and licensing industrial nuclear energy vegetation within the U.S. So far, Holtec has submitted three NRC licensing requests in pursuit of license reauthorization and anticipates submitting the rest in spring 2024.
The LPO mentioned that whereas the conditional dedication demonstrates the DOE’s intent to finance the mission, Holtec should fulfill sure technical, authorized, environmental, and monetary situations earlier than the Division enters into definitive financing paperwork and funds the mortgage.
—Aaron Larson is POWER’s govt editor (@POWERmagazine).
