The company in charge of decommissioning a shuttered Michigan nuclear power plant said this week that it would make another attempt to restart the facility via a federal bailout scheme.
Although it had previously tamped down the possibility that it could participate in the second round of the Department of Energy’s civil nuclear credits program, a spokesperson for Holtec International said in a statement Monday that the company would again apply for a bailout “to support the repowering” of Palisades Nuclear Generating Station.
DOE is offering economically-troubled nuclear power plants the opportunity to bid on a bailout under the second round of its roughly $6 billion credits program, authorized last year under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Eligibility for the first round of bailouts, awarded in November, was restricted to nuclear facilities facing imminent closure.
The agency has said that it expects to launch the second bailout cycle in January.
“This decision to reapply is one that we did not take lightly,” Holtec said Monday, “but the support of the State of Michigan, local officials, and key stakeholders – who recognize the significant benefit in providing a safe, reliable, carbon-free power source, as well as providing a significant economic impact through good paying jobs and the use of many local goods and services – leads us to believe this is the best path forward for the facility and our state.”
Holtec has said that, if granted a bailout, it would use the cash to solicit a willing buyer that could bring the Covert, Mich., Palisades plant back online. DOE refused to grant an award to the facility under the first funding cycle. Following that rejection, Holtec has said as recently as Nov. 28 that decommissioning Palisades was the company’s “#1 focus.”
A spokesperson for Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D), who backed the company’s initial attempt to secure a bailout from DOE, told RadWaste Monitor via email Wednesday that Lansing is “in communication with Holtec and ready to support their efforts to seek federal funding to move the ball forward.”
The spokesperson also said that in “the meantime, the state continues to have enough energy to meet the needs of families, communities, and small businesses.”
Camden, N.J.-based Holtec in June acquired Palisades from Entergy. The facility shut down May 20 — at the time, seemingly for good.
Meanwhile, anti-nuclear group Beyond Nuclear decried Holtec’s second bailout bid in a statement Monday.
“This outrageous and unprecedented scheme, to restart an atomic reactor that has permanently shut down, includes very serious risks to public health, safety, security, the environment, and pocketbooks,” the organization said.
