Recommissioning & Restarts

Approving the restart of a Michigan nuclear plant by August will be “demanding,” federal regulators said Tuesday, and there is more work ahead than the plant’s owner may realize. That was the takeaway from senior Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff during their hybrid public meeting at commission headquarters in Rockville, Md., with Holtec International, owner of […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff were scheduled to meet virtually on Tuesday with representatives of Holtec International to discuss the company’s planned restart of the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan. The meeting, portions of which are closed to the public, was scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time, according to a notice on the […]

The California Public Utilities Commission last week approved $723 million in rate increases to let Pacific Gas & Electric Co. keep the state’s last nuclear power plant open through 2025, media reported. The increases would cover operations of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant from Sept. 1, 2023 through Dec. 21, 2025. The California Public […]

Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff planned to meet Jan. 9 with representatives of Holtec International to discuss regulatory relief related to aging steam generators at the Michigan nuclear plant the company wants to restart next year. The two steam generators have drawn the attention of activists opposed to restarting the Palisades Nuclear Generating station, which closed […]

A former employee at the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan should not be allowed to block federal regulatory relief needed to restart the plant, Holtec International said this week. In a Monday regulatory filing with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Holtec said Alan Blind, the ex-employee of former plant operator Entergy, did not actually contest […]

NextEra Energy is still considering, but not committed to, restarting Iowa’s only nuclear power plant, which shut down in 2020, the head of the company told investors Tuesday. “We are currently evaluating the recommissioning of our Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa,” John Ketchum, chief executive officer of NextEra Energy said Tuesday in prepared remarks during a […]

NextEra Energy is still considering, but not committed to, restarting Iowa’s only nuclear power plant, which shut down in 2020, the head of the company told investors Tuesday. “We are currently evaluating the recommissioning of our Duane Arnold nuclear plant in Iowa,” John Ketchum, chief executive officer of NextEra Energy said Tuesday in prepared remarks […]

Restarting the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan will create some 33,000 cubic feet of solid, low-level radioactive waste, Holtec International said in a regulatory filing published this week. That would be a very small fraction, only 3% or so, of the roughly 1 million cubic feet of low-level waste that decommissioning the plant would […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission this week said it established an Atomic Safety Licensing Board to hear a local man’s arguments against granting regulatory relief for the restart of the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan. In Monday a Federal Register filing, NRC said it last week established the board to preside over a hearing sought by Alan […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday said it established an Atomic Safety Licensing Board to hear a local man’s arguments against granting regulatory relief for the restart of the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan. In a Federal Register filing, NRC said it last week established the board to preside over a hearing sought by […]

Constellation on Friday announced it plans to restart the Three Mile Island Unit 1 nuclear reactor in Londonderry Township, Pa., by 2028 and extend its operating license through “at least” 2054. Constellation announced the plan in a press release, in which it also said it has signed a 20-year power purchase agreement with Microsoft Corp., […]

Former NRC official Robert Taylor was appointed on Monday, August 26th as X-energy’s Vice President, Regulatory Affairs and Licensing, the company said in a press release. Taylor most recently worked for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission as Deputy Office Director for New Reactors, where he led a team of engineers in developing and implementing licensing for […]

Beyond Nuclear on Tuesday filed a petition to intervene in a license transfer needed to reopen the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station near Covert, Mich. The group filed its petition on the last day to do so. Beyond Nuclear seeks to stop the transfer of Palisades’ operating license to Palisades Energy LLC from Holtec Decommissioning International. […]

Beyond Nuclear on Tuesday filed a petition to intervene in a license transfer needed to reopen the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station near Covert, Mich. The group filed its petition on the last day to do so. Beyond Nuclear seeks to stop the transfer of Palisades’ operating license to Palisades Energy LLC from Holtec Decommissioning International. […]

Federal judges in August decided not to let environmentalists opposed to the restart of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant reargue their case before an entire appeals court. The judges did not give a reason for their ruling in a decision published Aug. 5 on the online docket for the case in the U.S. Ninth […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inviting the public to request hearings on Holtec International’s ongoing efforts to reopen the shuttered Palisades Nuclear in Michigan. In a Wednesday press release, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced opportunities for stakeholders to request hearings on aspects of the restart. There is an Oct. 7 deadline for the public […]

In a notice published online Tuesday, the Department of Energy formalized a $1.5 billion loan needed to restart the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant next year. DOE announced its guarantee of the loan to plant operator Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., in a Federal Register notice. The agency conditionally approved the loan in March. Holtec has said […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inviting the public to request hearings on Holtec International’s ongoing efforts to reopen the shuttered Palisades Nuclear in Michigan. In a Wednesday press release, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced opportunities for stakeholders to request hearings on aspects of the restart. There is an Oct. 7 deadline for the public […]

In a notice published online Tuesday, the Department of Energy formalized a $1.5 billion loan needed to restart the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant next year. DOE announced its guarantee of the loan to plant operator Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., in a Federal Register notice. The agency conditionally approved the loan in March. Holtec has said […]

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) last week signed a bill that includes $150 million more in state funding to help restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant.  The new tranche of funding, passed as part of a supplement to the state’s 2024 budget, brings Michigan’s total aid package for the plant to $300 million. Lansing approved another […]

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) last week signed a bill that includes $150 million more in state funding to help restart the Palisades Nuclear Plant.  The new tranche of funding, passed as part of a supplement to the state’s 2024 budget, brings Michigan’s total aid package for the plant to $300 million. Lansing approved another […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission needs less than a year to finish regulatory approvals for restarting Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, the head of the agency said Tuesday. Plant owner Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., “has submitted all of the regulatory filings that we need to do [and] we expect to reach a decision on those filings […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission needs less than a year to finish regulatory approvals for restarting Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station, the head of the agency said Tuesday. Plant owner Holtec International, Jupiter, Fla., “has submitted all of the regulatory filings that we need to do [and] we expect to reach a decision on those filings […]

Groups opposed to restarting the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant may still get a hearing over alleged misappropriation of decommissioning funds at the plant, according to a notice published Tuesday. According to Tuesday’s Federal Register notice, an NRC petition review board on July 2 ruled against the environmentalists and denied them a hearing but also said that the […]

Environmental groups had standing to challenge a utility’s request to renew its operating license for California’s Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant but the groups’ complaints are inadmissible, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission board ruled. “With this Order, we chronicle yet another chapter in the ongoing narrative of the Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant,” the Atomic Safety […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission planned Thursday evening to hold a public meeting in Benton Harbor, Mich., to discuss its pending environmental review of Holtec International’s plan to restart the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant.  The hybrid meeting will be webcast from Lake Michigan College’s Mendel Center beginning at 6:00 p.m. Eastern time, according to NRC’s website. […]

Groups opposed to restarting the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant may still get a hearing over alleged misappropriation of decommissioning funds at the plant, according to a notice published Tuesday. According to Tuesday’s Federal Register notice, an NRC petition review board on July 2 ruled against the environmentalists and denied them a hearing but also said […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not exempt from environmental review Holtec International’s plan to restart the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan, the agency said last week. Holtec wants to restart the plant, which closed two years ago, in August 2025 and had asked NRC for what is known as a categorical exemption from environmental […]

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will not exempt from environmental review Holtec International’s plan to restart the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Michigan, the agency said last week. Holtec wants to restart the plant, which closed two years ago, in August 2025 and had asked NRC for what is known as a categorical exemption from environmental […]

Pacific Gas & Electric would get $400 million more to help keep California’s last nuclear power plant open for another five years, if a state budget bill unveiled over the weekend becomes law. In a reversal for legislative leaders who opposed the funding as recently as June, the compromise spending bill would allow California to top up […]