A Palisades Community Advisory Panel has been formed in the Michigan-based Palisades nuclear plant host community.
The plant is located in Covert Township, which had a population of just under 3,000 residents in the 2010 census and sits on the coast of Lake Michigan some 70 miles south of Grand Rapids. The township is located in Van Buren County.
Van Buren county commissioners announced the formation of the panel in a press release Dec. 11.
Holtec International is in the process of applying for a license transfer to decommission the plant, which is currently operated by Entergy. The two companies have expressed plans to submit the application by the end of the year.
Palisades is scheduled to shut down on May 31, 2022. The companies agreed to the sale in August 2018, a year after Entergy announced plans to close the plant.
Members of the Palisades Community Advisory Panel will come from different levels of government and represent diverse interests, ranging from education to labor, according to the release. Commissioners plan to announce more details early in 2021.
Community advisory panels of some kind exist in most communities where a nuclear plant is being decommissioned. Some are mandated by state law. A bill to mandate the formation of a Palisades panel was introduced by Michigan Rep. Jon Hoadley (D) in January, but stalled in the legislature.
