It is being reported that Holtec’s Palisades plant will likely be re-commissioned by August 2025 (https://www.mlive.com/education/2024/07/closed-nuclear-plants-readiness-to-restart-focus-of-next-public-meeting.html), likely meant as a primary replacement for the Campbell plant shutdown:
“…This is the first time in American history that the repowering of a nuclear power plant is being considered after the facility began decommissioning. The nuclear plant restart effort recently received a $1.52 billion federal loan guarantee from the federal Department of Energy as part of national efforts to maintain the existing nuclear power fleet to provide carbon-free energy and ultimately fight climate change. Michigan contributed $300 million to the effort…The Palisades plant stopped generating electricity in May 2022 and former owner Entergy sold the facility to Holtec, a company best known for decommissioning nuclear sites and manufacturing dry cask storage for spent nuclear fuel…There are critics of the plan to repower the 1970s-era nuclear plant. Both environmental justice advocates and some neighbors said they worry whether the legacy facility can safely be returned to service, partly because of concerns about embrittlement problems in the reactor…”
https://www.fairewinds.org/nuclear-energy-education/nuclear-crack explains:
“… Did you know that embrittled nuclear reactors could shatter like glass?… Aging nuclear reactors around the globe are subject to this steel embrittlement that is a measure of how prone the steel reactor vessel is to cracking. The metamorphous of the strong steel vessel into something as brittle and fragile as glass is due to the constant neutron bombardment from the chain reaction inside the nuclear core … While several U.S. nuclear reactor vessels are showing early signs of embrittlement, Entergy’s Palisades nuclear plant is the most embrittled plant in the country. Located in Covert, Michigan, it is one of the oldest reactors in the world and now one of the most dangerous to continue operating due to its embrittled reactor vessel…”
https://beyondnuclear.org/media-statement-u-s-nuclear-regulatory-commissions-nrc-holtec-palisades-zombie-atomic-reactor-restart-public-meeting-in-benton-harbor-michigan/ provides detailed information on the risks associated with this rapid re-commissioning of the Palisades plant, which puts West Michigan and beyond in danger:
“Holtec gave lip service to repairing problem tubes, or even entirely replacing the steam generators, at an estimated cost of $510 million, in its secret July 5, 2022 application to the U.S. Department of Energy for $2 billion in Civil Nuclear Credits for the Palisades restart scheme. This month, Holtec’s spokesman Nick Culp stated steam generator replacement is now off the table. At the same time, Holtec has only, at best, mentioned relatively minor mitigation on the severely degraded reactor vessel closure head, also rejecting replacement that Consumers Energy deemed needed two decades ago. NRC appears poised to now allow Holtec to run Palisades into the ground, despite the extreme risk represented by such clear pathways to reactor core meltdown. But those aren’t the only ones. By NRC’s own admission, Palisades has the worst neutron-embrittled reactor pressure vessel (RPV) in the country…now Holtec, NRC is willing to allow the owner/operator to simply ‘monitor’ the embrittlement situation, while not requiring real world physical data that is readily available to be analyzed in order to confirm rosy NRC hypotheses and optimistic industry computer models…Palisades has also had the worst operating experience in the American nuclear power industry with Control Rod Drive Mechanism (CRDM) seal leaks, yet another pathway to reactor core meltdown…These and other safety risks have grown worse since Palisades’ permanent shutdown nearly 23 months ago. A reflection of its inexperience and incompetence at operating reactors, Holtec has done no active maintenance on safety-significant systems, structures, and components since taking ownership of Palisades on June 28, 2022. Corrosion has accelerated on the steam generators, because Holtec has not put them in “wet layup,” a chemically preservative state. Holtec has not operated pumps and valves, putting their future reliability into doubt. The company has also not rotated the turbine-generator shaft, so it is bending under its own immense weight. This could result in a violent mechanical explosion, as happened at DTE’s Fermi Unit 2 atomic reactor in Monroe County, Michigan…Holtec has requested $8.3 billion in public bailouts for the restart scheme, which risks a Fukushima-scale nuclear catastrophe on the very edge of the Great Lakes, 21% of the world’s surface fresh water, drinking water supply for more than 40 million people…”
The irony of this whole thing is that the fairy tale environmental dangers of atmospheric carbon dioxide emissions from the Campbell plant are being used as the justification for its closure and demolition, while the real dangers of rapid re-commissioning of the Palisades plant are brushed aside. West Michigan is being used as a Guinea pig while East Michigan is allowed to retain its far more polluting coal plant. Ottawa County and West Michigan should not sit idle at this risky and expensive experiment where we are the Guinea pig.