Palisades Nuclear Power Station operated by Consumers Power Company at South Haven, Michigan. Circa 1970. Photo courtesy of the US Department of Energy.
America has been shutting down many of its nuclear power plants, but with high demand for power for data centers (explained by Your Survival Guy here), the country needs all the power it can get. The Biden administration has chosen to lend $1.5 to Holtec International to restart the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan. Newsmax reports:
The federal government will provide a $1.5 billion loan to restart a nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan, officials announced Wednesday.
Holtec International acquired the 800-megawatt Palisades plant in 2022 with plans to dismantle it. But now the emphasis is on restarting it by late 2025, following support from the state of Michigan and the Biden administration.
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said it would be the first nuclear power plant to be reopened in the U.S. It still faces hurdles, including inspections, testing, and the blessing of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, known as the NRC.
“Nuclear power is our single largest source of carbon-free electricity, directly supporting 100,000 jobs across the country and hundreds of thousands more indirectly,” said Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, a former Michigan governor.
The Palisades plant is along Lake Michigan, a two-hour drive from Chicago. A Michigan utility, CMS Energy, owned it from 1971 until the plant was sold to Louisiana-based utility Entergy in 2007. It was shut down in 2022.
Holtec said it has long-term commitments so far from two electric cooperatives to buy power from the plant.
“The repowering of Palisades will restore safe, around-the-clock generation to hundreds of thousands of households, businesses and manufacturers,” said Kris Singh, Holtec president and chief executive.
Read more here.
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