Camden-based Holtec renews bid to restart Michigan nuclear plant

Jim Walsh, Cherry Hill Courier-Post
·2 min read
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CAMDEN – Holtec International is trying again to get federal aid to restart a closed nuclear power plant in Michigan.And the company’s critics have resumed their efforts to block the subsidy.

In announcing its renewed effort, Holtec did not disclose the amount of money it’s seeking from a program at the U.S. Department of Energy.

A group opposed to Holtec’s plan, Beyond Nuclear, has said the firm wants “a billion-dollar federal bailout.”

Holtec in November said it had been denied federal funds for use in restarting the Palisades nuclear plant in Covert, Michigan.

The Palisades’ former operator, Entergy, shut down the plant in May 2022. Holtec acquired it in June, saying it would decommission the complex off Lake Michigan.

Holtec now says the plant’s restart would bring jobs and economic gains to Michigan.

It also says the Palisades facility would provide “an essential backstop” of carbon-free energy as Michigan transitions away from fossil-fuel generation.

The company will “remain focused on decommissioning” while it pursues the federal aid, Holtec spokesman Patrick O’Brien said in a Dec. 19 statement. He said those efforts will focus on managing spent fuel removal at the plant.

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Holtec said its decision followed “supportive feedback we have received” after its rejection by the DOE’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program, which is intended to extend the lifespan of usable nuclear plants.

The company’s earlier bid was backed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

But Kevin Kamps, a Beyond Nuclear spokesman, noted nearly 100 environmental organizations wrote Whitmer in June to oppose the Palisades’ restart.

Kamps asserted Holtec’s “outrageous and unprecedented scheme … includes very serious risks to public health, safety, security, the environment, and pocketbooks.”

He said the “severely age-degraded” reactor, which began operations in 1971, “must remain shut down, lest its restart risk a catastrophic core meltdown.”

Holtec has not given a reason for its previous bid’s rejection, and the Department of Energy does not comment on applications to its Civil Nuclear Credit Program.

The agency plans to release guidance for the next round of funding in the first quarter of 2023.

This article originally appeared on Cherry Hill Courier-Post: Holtec trying again to reopen Michigan power plant