Holtec awarded second tranche of DOE loan money for Palisades

The Department of Energy said Monday it is awarding Holtec the second phase of a federal loan, this chunk worth nearly $57 million, to go toward reviving the closed Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan.

Providing it wins the necessary Nuclear Regulatory Commission approvals, the 800-megawatt facility would effectively become the nation’s first restart of a commercial nuclear reactor that ceased operations, DOE said in a press release. The restart should preserve 600 jobs in the states, DOE said.

This is the second installment of funding Holtec has received via the DOE Loan Programs Office since the potential $1.5 billion federal financial deal closed in September 2024, according to DOE.

“Unleashing American energy dominance will require leveraging all energy sources that are affordable, reliable and secure – including nuclear energy,” Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said in the DOE release.

The loan agreement was initially announced by then Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm in May 2024. 

Palisades shut down in May 2022 with plans for Holtec to decommission the facility. But thanks to a “groundswell of support” by Michigan and the feds, a decision was soon made to try and restart the facility, according to the Holtec website. 

Not everyone is a fan of the restart idea, as citizen groups such as Beyond Nuclear have opposed the project before the NRC’s  Atomic Safety and Licensing Board Panel. 

Palisades was designed in the mid-1960s, broke ground on construction in 1967, and fired up in 1971, Beyond Nuclear said in a March 4 press release. “ It was a nuclear lemon from the get-go, and after 51 years of problem-plagued operations, till 2022, has also now become severely age-degraded, dangerously so.” 

“NRC staff even stated that Palisades’ restart will make little to no difference in averting the worsening climate catastrophe,” said Michael Keegan, co-chair of Don’t Waste Michigan, said in the Beyond Nuclear press release.