Various citizen groups and some local landowners this week urged a Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) panel to reject a request from Holtec to revive the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan.
“Holtec’s proposal to resurrect Palisades on the basis of incomplete and outdated documentation—along with an unsupported request for exemptions—does not satisfy the standards,” according to a pre-hearing petition with the Atomic Safety Licensing Board panel filed by Alan Blind, who represents opposing landowners pro se.
“We continue to question the regulatory adequacy of Holtec’s reliance on outdated safety evaluations and the absence of explicit “return to-service” regulations,” Blind goes on to say in the petition.
An Atomic Safety Licensing Board panel heard the petitioners on the matter Wednesday.
The NRC is taking public comment between now and March 3 on a draft environmental assessment for Holtec’s proposal to restart the 800-MW nuclear power plant in Covert, Mich. The NRC has issued a finding of no significant impact to the move, which is being touted as a move to bring back a source of carbon-free electricity to the region.
Holtec has a $1.5-billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy to repower the plant closed in May 2022. The proposal has financial backing from the state of Michigan.
