WASHINGTON, Sept 18 (Askume) – The U.S. nuclear energy regulator said on Wednesday that inspections found problems at the Palisades nuclear reactor in Michigan, where owner Holtec hopes to restart after a two-year shutdown with $1.52 billion in U.S. financing.
Holtec acquired Palisades with the intention of shutting it down in 2022. But now, as artificial intelligence, electric vehicles and cryptocurrencies drive US power demand, the company hopes to reopen Palisades by the end of next year. This would be the first time a closed US nuclear power plant has reopened.
A notice on the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s website about the two Palisades steam generators says, “Preliminary results have identified several steam generator piping that show signs of needing further analysis and/or repair.” More analysis, testing and corrections are said to be coming in the coming months.
Holtec said on its website that an inspection of the steam generators found “additional maintenance activities were needed.”
Asked about possible additional costs or delays, Holtec spokesman Patrick O’Brien said the issues are being evaluated, but the company “does not expect any significant timing issues” and any additional costs are “within our plans.”
The Energy Department’s U.S. Loan Program Office provided Holtec with a $1.52 billion conditional loan guarantee in March . President Joe Biden’s administration sees nuclear power as vital to curbing climate change.
Alan Blind, the plant’s engineering director from 2006 to 2013, estimated Wednesday that repairs to the steam generators would cost more than $500 million and take two to three years to get them working again.
Edwin Lyman, a physicist and nuclear safety expert with the Union of Concerned Scientists, said more needs to be known about conditions at nuclear power plants. He said, “The public deserves the unvarnished truth … before more taxpayers and taxpayer dollars are poured down a much deeper rat hole.”
