Holtec has paused fuel loading activity at the Palisades power plant in Michigan following an incident with its fuel assembly, the company said.
In a progress report released by Holtec on Sept. 21, the company said one fuel assembly tilted from its upright position after it was placed. The fuel-handling machine grapple was disengaged later.
Holtec said it reported the incident to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, but NRC personnel concluded that the incident did not activate the safety reporting requirements under the federal agency’s regulations. Exchange Monitor reached out to NRC Monday and the agency’s spokesperson confirmed the incident.
“NRC inspectors at Palisades have been monitoring restart activities, including all fuel‑handling work, from the beginning,” the NRC spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “The tipped (not dropped) fuel assembly did not meet reporting requirements to the NRC. The incident is under review. There has been no radiological release and no workers or the public have been affected.”
Holtec said it is undergoing an evaluation of the incident and trying to figure out the cause of the event. NRC told the Monitor its inspectors will continue to monitor the situation at the Palisades plant.
The Monitor also reached out to Holtec about whether this pause in the fuel loading would push back the Palisades’ expected date to return to operations, to which Holtec’s spokesperson, Patrick O’Brien, told the publication that it still expects to restart prior to March 2027.
Parallel to the incident, Holtec said it is pursuing a license amendment request related to how the fuel assembly would be retrieved. No date will be publicly shared for when fuel loading will resume at the time as the company pursues the license amendment, O’Brien said.
Holtec began fuel loading at the Palisades plant in late August.