The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is seeking public input on the environmental review of Holtec’s two proposed small modular reactors (SMRs) at Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan.
Comments on the scope of Holtec’s Palisades SMR project’s environmental impact statement are due by July 15. The agency is looking for public comments to identify possible alternatives, environmental concerns and relevant information that needs to be addressed in the draft environmental review, according to NRC’s Monday Federal Register notice.
The agency said it intends to prepare an environmental impact statement to analyze the possible environmental impacts associated with a phased construction permit application. This would include Holtec’s request for a limited work authorization on the dual-SMR units, named Pioneer Units 1 and 2.
Limited work authorization allows applicants to begin non-safety related site preparation before the construction permit or combined license is issued. Holtec’s subsidiary SMR LLC filed the partial application that included the limited work authorization with NRC on Dec. 31, 2025. NRC accepted the partial application for review in February.
NRC said the purpose of the environmental impact statement development is to decide whether the agency should issue a limited work authorization and construction permit for the dual-unit SMR-300 nuclear plant.
“The proposed federal action would authorize, in sequence, specific phases of the plant’s construction,” NRC said in the notice. “Issuance of an LWA [limited work authorization]… would allow limited NRC authorized construction activities to begin prior to the issuance of the CP [construction permit], including soil improvement within the excavation and installation of certain foundations. Issuance of the CP would authorize full construction of the two SMR-300 units.”
NRC said it is in the process of evaluating potential alternatives for Pioneer Units 1 and 2 to figure out which alternatives will be carried forward for detailed evaluation. This would be included in the draft environment impact statement.