Holtec International submitted its preliminary safety analysis report (PSAR) for its two Palisades small modular reactors (SMRs) to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Wednesday.
The PSAR provides NRC with detailed technical and safety information for its two SMR-300 reactors, named Pioneer Units 1 and 2, located at the recommissioning Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, Mich., Holtec said in a Wednesday press release. Holtec’s SMR-300 is a pressurized water reactor that is designed to produce 340 megawatts.
The two Palisades SMRs are expected to produce 680 megawatts of electricity at the site.
Holtec said this submission to NRC completes the second phase of the project’s construction permit application. The process of the second phase was initiated by the limited work authorization (LWA) application and environmental report (ER) submitted in December 2025, Holtec said. NRC accepted the first part of the construction permit application for review in February.
Over the past few months, Holtec said its licensing topical report on new civil construction methods, which the company says would reduce labor requirements, was audited and accepted by NRC in September and are expecting NRC to audit and accept its safety evaluation report by November.
Holtec said it is also expecting NRC’s draft safety evaluation report for its LWA application to be released by December.
“Since its launch in March 2011, Holtec’s SMR program has advanced through sustained research and development, design refinement, testing, and regulatory engagement in pursuit of a safe, efficient, and broadly deployable small modular reactor,” the company said.
“Next items on the development agenda are completion of a Class 2 construction estimate, a 4D simulation of the entire plant showing the step-by-step evolution of construction, and completion of the confirmatory safety analyses supporting the plant’s Final Safety Analysis Report (FSAR),” Holtec finished.
Holtec plans for an “energy campus” at the Palisades site, with the restarted 805-megawatt reactor at the core of it. The company has made progress with restarting the current sole Palisades reactor and began loading fueling at the plant in late August. However, a recent incident where a fuel assembly tilted from its upright position and the fuel-handling machine disengaged has caused the company to pause its fuel loading activities until further notice.