Some 260 Palisades Nuclear Generating Station employees, accounting for more than 40% of the current workforce, will stay on the job even after a decommissioning company takes over, the plant’s owner said.
These employees will remain on site “as part of the first phase of decommissioning,” a spokesperson for plant owner Entergy told RadWaste Monitor in an emailed statement Tuesday. “These workers will become Holtec employees following the plant’s permanent shutdown, reactor defueling, and close of transaction,” the spokesperson said.
Holtec, which plans to finalize its purchase of the plant from Entergy once it shuts down, has said that decommissioning could begin as soon as June. Right now, the plant has 594 employees.
Of the 334 employees not staying at Palisades, around 130 have accepted an offer from Entergy to relocate to other roles within the company, the utility’s spokesperson told RadWaste Monitor. Another 180 employees, half of whom were eligible for retirement, “will separate from the plant or company,” the spokesperson said.”
Last week, the University of Michigan’s Economic Growth Institute warned during an April 13 community advisory panel meeting that, in addition to attrition at the plant, the Palisades’ host community of Van Buren County, Mich., could lose more than 200 other jobs across several other industries as a result of “indirect and induced impacts.”
Entergy “recognizes the impact the closure of Palisades will have on the community,” the spokesperson said Tuesday. “The company remains in regular, active communication with federal, state, and local officials and key community stakeholders regarding the transition to decommissioning.”
Meanwhile, Holtec’s acquisition of Palisades would put a total of five decommissioning projects under its belt. The company is also working at the Pilgrim plant in Massachusetts, Oyster Creek in New Jersey, and Indian Point in New York. NRC in December Palisades’ sale as well as Holtec’s request to take over spent fuel management at Michigan’s already-decommissioned Big Rock Point plant.
