Overview:
- The Palisades Nuclear Plant in southwest Michigan is set for a historic reopening later this year, despite initial confusion from President Trump's early days in office.
- The nuclear industry needs stability for large capital investments, and the plant is expected to provide 800 megawatts of power, enough for 800,000 homes.
- Critics like Beyond Nuclear have raised concerns about the restart, citing delays and budget overruns, and urge the state to focus on renewables and energy storage instead.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan.
The owners of a shuttered nuclear plant on the shores of Lake Michigan are still banking on its historic reopening later this year, despite the confusion of President Donald Trump’s first days.
The Palisades Nuclear Plant ran for over 50 years in southwest Michigan’s Covert Township before it went offline, seemingly for good, in 2022. Soon after, lawmakers across the political spectrum and owner Holtec International pushed for a reversal. Holtec officials say they’re confident in the restart, partly because Trump’s administration has signaled strong support for nuclear power.
However, Trump’s messaging on nuclear hasn’t been uniform in the past, and more confusion has been kicked up by orders to pause Inflation Reduction Act funding and a now-rescinded memo calling to temporarily pause all federal loans and grants.
Such an environment could complicate things for projects like Palisades that require stability to plan for, say, large capital investments, according to Josh Freed, senior vice president for climate and energy at the centrist think tank Third Way.
The nuclear industry needs to know that policies, regulations, and promised funding “are actually delivered on time and in predictable ways,” he said. (Third Way supports the restart.)
There’s been renewed interest in nuclear power — and restarting mothballed plants — amid increased demand for electricity from technologies like data centers and efforts to lower greenhouse gas emissions.
Last year, the Biden administration pledged about $2.8 billion in Inflation Reduction Act funding toward the restart and other clean energy, including a $1.5 billion loan for Holtec and $1.3 billion in grants to help two rural electric cooperatives purchase that power: Indiana-based Hoosier Energy and Michigan’s Wolverine Power Cooperative.
Based in northern Michigan, Wolverine plans to buy over half of Palisades’ energy — whether or not it receives the estimated $650 million in IRA funding, which the co-op said would be passed along to customers.
Michigan law requires 100 percent clean energy by 2040, and it considers nuclear power clean. The state is allocating $300 million for the plant’s restart, which is expected to bring back 800 megawatts of power — enough for some 800,000 homes.
Wolverine officials said this would allow their members to reach the state’s energy goals a decade ahead of time. Zach Anderson, the chief operating officer, said during an interview with Grist in October that Palisades was a “perfect fit” for the co-op.
If the restart doesn’t happen, he said Wolverine wouldn’t lose money, but would have to take more time and “a lot more solar to replace something like Palisades.”
Now the co-op is figuring out what to make of Trump’s orders to pause and review IRA spending, and subsequent guidelines.
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The Biden Administration plans to triple U.S. nuclear power capacity by 2050, aiming to support large and small reactors, reducing emissions and combating climate change.
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Michigan lawmakers say new legislation needed to stop out-of-state waste from coming to the state. Residents say they fear the impacts nuclear waste could have on health and the environment.
Officials with Holtec maintain that they don’t pose a problem, and that the Department of Energy will stick to the $1.5 billion loan. As for the power purchase agreement with the electric cooperatives, it “was completed well before any grants were factored in,” said spokesperson Patrick O’Brien in an email.
Nuclear power is polarizing, and behind the latest deluge of executive actions, the debate continues around whether and how much to rely on, invest in, and develop it.
Critics — and even Trump himself — have pointed to the industry’s history of delays and going over budget, like the new Vogtle reactors in Georgia, which came online years behind schedule.
Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist with the group Beyond Nuclear, thinks the Palisades restart is ill-advised.
“This is unprecedented risk taking that they’re talking about now. They’ve never done this before. It’s not needed,” he said. “Renewables are really the way to go, not resurrecting very problematic nuclear power plants.”
Beyond Nuclear has been an outspoken critic of Holtec, with longstanding concerns including radioactive contamination and nuclear waste storage. It has also intervened in the licensing process for the restart. Kamps said if necessary, they will take the matter to federal court.
“We’ll fight it as long as we can, till the last opportunity,” he said. “We feel that strongly about it.”
Environmental groups like Sierra Club Michigan have spoken against the restart as well, urging the state to develop renewables and energy storage instead.
This article originally appeared in Grist at https://grist.org/energy/a-michigan-nuclear-plant-is-slated-to-restart-but-trump-could-complicate-things/.
Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at Grist.org