With a $1.52 billion loan from the Department of Energy and $1.3 billion in grants to rural electric cooperatives near the plant, the ambitious plans to restart Michigan’s Palisades nuclear plant next fall are moving ahead.

A new course at the University of Michigan offered by the Nuclear Engineering and Radiological Sciences (NERS) Department seeks to address the lack of community engagement in the design of energy technologies by pioneering a socially engaged approach.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) is holding a virtual public hearing on Tuesday, October 1, to provide information and take comments on the proposed reissuance of a surface water permit for Palisades nuclear plant in Covert, Mich.

Dozens gathered last week at a public hearing hosted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to get feedback on the proposal to restart the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan.

The NRC is beginning its environmental review of plans to repower Palisades after it was shut down in May 2022 and was headed for permanent decommissioning. If the restart is successful, this would be the first return to service of a shuttered U.S. nuclear plant.

Constellation Energy is in talks with the governor’s office and state legislators about funding to restart a unit at Three Mile Island nuclear plant, Reuters has reported. The ongoing talks have been described as “beyond preliminary” by two sources.

Cavanaugh

In an opinion piece published by The Hill, Tim Cavanaugh blasts the federal government for “quick-fix” and “half-hearted” efforts to retain existing nuclear power plants.

Cavanaugh, senior editor at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, adds that the U.S. nuclear energy industry is stifled by outmoded policies and suggests a number of policy changes to allow it to flourish and to “end a regulatory model that has starved the nuclear industry nearly to extinction.”

Renewable failures: Cavanaugh’s first suggestion is to acknowledge the failure of renewable energy sources like wind and solar, which “produce too little energy and are too unreliable to make a dent in our heat and electricity needs, even though taxpayers have spent billions of dollars on green pork.”

The deadline for first-round applications to the Department of Energy’s Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program is September 6. While the program’s goal has never shifted from providing support to nuclear power plants facing closure for economic reasons so that they can continue generating clean power, the deadline and the first-round eligibility criteria have changed. The program was established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law with a sizable, yet finite, fund of $6 billion. Those applying in the first round will get the first—and possibly the best—crack at a share of the funds.

Holtec International announced on June 28 that it has completed the acquisition of the Palisades nuclear power plant and the Big Rock Point site from Entergy Corporation. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the license transfer for the two sites, both located in Michigan, in December 2021.

The Department of Energy has announced the steps that would-be applicants must take to access funds from the $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program. Guidance published April 19 invites owners or operators of those plants most at risk of near-term closure to apply during the program’s first award cycle. With shutdown planned next month, Entergy’s Palisades plant would top that list (read on for more on Michigan’s efforts to keep the plant operating), but any reactor with publicly announced plans to close by September 30, 2026, that meets other program criteria could be certified for credits. Successful applicants won’t have to wait long for good news: the DOE plans to announce award decisions as soon as 30 days after the May 19 deadline for submitting certification applications together with sealed bids for credits.

“Many states have made carbon dioxide–reduction plans with no hope of success. But if they want to meet even a portion of those goals, they must put nuclear power back on the table.” So opined Tim Cavanaugh, senior editor at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, in an essay published by The Hill on March 23.