Palisades receives fuel ahead of restart

"Procuring new fuel was among the earliest long-lead activities in the project, requiring months of technical preparation and regulatory coordination," the company said. "Palisades' historic transition from decommissioning to operations status that occurred with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission's authorisation in late August 2025 enabled the plant to receive new fuel at the site."

The fuel was fabricated domestically "by a highly respected nuclear fuel manufacturer that has supplied Palisades and others in the nuclear industry for decades", Holtec said.

Upon arrival at the plant and an in-depth quality inspection, the accepted batch of fuel was placed in secure storage within the used fuel storage pool building, where it will remain until it is loaded into the reactor core.

Palisades, a single-unit pressurised water reactor, ceased operations in May 2022 and was defuelled the following month, although it was licensed to operate until March 2031. The unit's licence was transferred from previous operator Entergy Nuclear Operations to Holtec Decommissioning International, LLC and Holtec Palisades, LLC, for decommissioning, but in late 2023, Holtec began the process of obtaining the licensing approvals needed to return the plant to operational status for the remainder of its licensing term.

Following the completion of technical reviews, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on 24 July this year approved the transfer of operating authority for the plant and its independent used fuel storage facility from Holtec Decommissioning International LLC to Palisades Energy LLC. It also approved the reinstatement of various documents and programmes that were in place prior to the shutdown, including the technical specifications, emergency plan, emergency action levels, and physical security plan, as well as programmes for quality assurance, maintenance, and in-service inspections. In late August, Holtec announced that Palisades had resumed operational status.

Holtec earlier said it was targeting to restart Palisades in the fourth quarter of this year.

Major equipment restoration work is progressing across the plant, the company said. Reassembly of the main turbine generator is under way following more than a year of inspection, testing, and maintenance work. The plant also recently received and installed the second of two fully refurbished primary coolant pump motors, which is essential to recirculate the reactor coolant. The chemical cleaning of the secondary side of the steam generators is also under way. This work follows successful completion of refurbishing of the steam generators' tubes earlier this summer and is intended to ensure long-term reliability and efficiency of the plant.

"The esprit de corps of our tirelessly toiling worker force, over 1,800 strong boosted by the stout support of federal, state, and local government as well as our industry partners, labour, and the Southwest Michigan community, is a testament to the national consensus and our collective will to harness nuclear energy to meet the galloping demand for power in our country," said Holtec CEO Kris Singh.

At the time it was taken out of service, Palisades was licensed to operate until 2031. Holtec notified the NRC last year that it intends to apply for a second, or subsequent, licence renewal for the plant during the first quarter of 2026. This would extend the plant's operating period by a further 20 years, to 2051.