The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is inviting the public to request hearings on Holtec International’s ongoing efforts to reopen the shuttered Palisades Nuclear in Michigan.
In a Wednesday press release, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced opportunities for stakeholders to request hearings on aspects of the restart.
There is an Oct. 7 deadline for the public to request a hearing to restore operating reactor standards to the Palisades license. The comments deadline on the reauthorization is Sept. 6, NRC said in a Wednesday Federal Register notice.
Separately, NRC will entertain hearing requests on an application to transfer the agency’s license from Holtec Decommissioning International to Palisades Energy LLC, according to the release. Hearing requests are due by Aug. 27. Another Wednesday Federal Register notice covers the proposed license transfer for the nuclear plant and the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation. Again, the comment deadline on the transfer is Sept. 6.
NRC said in the release it has separate agency processes for considering the requests. The chair of the NRC has said the agency could finish its regulatory review by next summer.
A $1.5 billion Department of Energy loan is in the works to help Holtec restart the reactor in late 2025 and Michigan could provide $500 million in state assistance towards the effort to revive the reactor that then owner Entergy shut down in May 2022. Holtec bought the plant to decommission it.
In late 2023, Holtec filed several requests seeking to reactivate the reactor.
