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Palisades Nuclear Generating Station

Nuclear power plant in Van Buren County, Michigan

Palisades Nuclear Generating Station
Summary

Nuclear power plant in Van Buren County, Michigan

FieldValue
namePalisades Nuclear Power Plant
name_officialPalisades Power Plant
imageHD.6B.285 (11842463663).jpg
image_captionPalisades Power Plant in 1974
coordinates
countryUnited States
locationCovert Township, Van Buren County, Michigan
statusOperational
construction_began
commissioned
decommissioned(Permanent shutdown - being reversed)
cost$630 million (2007 USD) ($ in dollars)
ownerHoltec International
operatorEntergy Nuclear (former)
<!------------------------- NUCLEAR POWER STATIONS -->np_reactor_typePWR
np_reactor_supplierCombustion Engineering
ps_cooling_sourceLake Michigan
ps_cooling_towers2 × mechanical draft cooling towers
<!------------------------- GENERAL -->ps_units_operational1 × 805 MWe
ps_units_manu_modelCE 2-loop (DRYAMB)
ps_thermal_capacity1 × 2565 MWth
ps_electrical_capacity805 MWe
ps_electrical_cap_fac99.2% (2021)
72.2% (lifetime)
ps_annual_generation7,014 GWh (2021)
websitePalisades Power Plant (plant page)
Palisades Power Plant (plant site)

72.2% (lifetime) Palisades Power Plant (plant site)

The Palisades Nuclear Generating Station is a nuclear power plant located on Lake Michigan, in Van Buren County's Covert Township, Michigan, on a 432 acre site 5 mi south of South Haven, Michigan, USA. Palisades was operated by the Nuclear Management Company and owned by CMS Energy prior to the sale to Entergy on April 11, 2007.

Its single Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactor weighs 425 tons and has steel walls 8+1/2 in thick. The containment building is 116 ft in diameter and 189 ft tall, including the dome. Its concrete walls are 3+1/2 ft thick with a 1/4 in steel liner plate. The dome roof is 3 ft thick. Access is via a personnel lock measuring by . The Westinghouse Electric Company turbine generator can produce 725,000 kilowatts of electricity.

Built between 1967 and 1970, Palisades was approved to operate at full power in 1973.

On July 12, 2006, it was announced that the plant would be sold to Entergy. On April 11, 2007, the plant was sold to Entergy for $380 million. The plant's original licensee was due to expire on March 24, 2011. An application for 20-year extension was filed in 2005 with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. It was granted on January 18, 2007. Therefore, the plant was then scheduled for decommissioning by 2031.

Entergy had made a decision to close the plant in October 2018. A decision by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) influenced the company's decision. Consumers Energy attempted to buy its way out of a power purchase agreement it has with Entergy and the plant. The MPSC did not approve Consumer Energy's full request of $172 million, so Entergy decided to keep the plant open three years longer than planned. On April 20, 2022, just weeks before the facility was scheduled to close, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer requested federal funding to keep the facility open.

Entergy closed the Palisades plant in May 2022 and its sale to Holtec International was completed in June 2022. However, in September 2022, Holtec applied for funds from the Civil Nuclear Credit to reopen the plant. This request was denied in November 2022. In December 2022, Holtec announced that it will reapply for funds from the Civil Nuclear Credit in order to restart Palisades. Other efforts have been made to "repower" the plant. On September 12, 2023, Holtec and Wolverine Power Cooperative announced that they had reached a power purchase agreement to restart the plant once the re-opening is approved. As of August 2024, Holtec has secured $300 million in state funding to restart the plant. The Department of Energy is also ready to offer a $1.5 billion loan to assist in restarting operations. If operations resume, planned for late 2025, the plant would be the first nuclear power plant to restart operations in the country. The plant changed its status from decommissioned to operational on August 27, 2025.

Electricity production

YearJanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDecAnnual (Total)20012,331,04620026,357,96220036,151,48120045,343,84620056,643,61620065,903,86120075,826,01520086,834,73620096,118,71020106,240,66120116,641,02020125,178,21320136,041,69620145,822,92620156,318,52020167,045,18120176,097,49620185,455,94020196,865,16720205,995,12320217,014,79920222,730,230
592,991512,071571,2852,663298,038371,256-3,857-2,260-2,114-2,025-1,979-5,023
168,721535,946600,727576,904577,499537,795582,568568,090545,479591,278565,875507,080
591,649525,637288,895151,228591,727566,907560,312572,715562,716588,899553,522597,274
597,162537,116596,098569,271583,466560,078461,033429,413196,447-2,294218,324597,732
397,709541,624598,387574,581590,400562,735581,101576,704497,868583,085559,996579,426
483,519547,734602,942-2,481219,549576,782585,700590,628574,389602,582518,820603,697
603,143497,774485,071583,991465,196569,217585,433582,322149,115118,585581,425604,743
541,751566,389607,111579,786556,350567,071582,065486,670567,326595,073581,797603,347
602,883456,765408,9210556,099572,986586,004584,081569,329596,345580,914604,383
605,062546,938593,732562,212594,771445,015523,828579,406556,10452,104581,983599,506
470,918549,704599,520586,084601,466575,531587,675587,482382,827558,063579,535562,215
520,384560,994559,11770,773337,644223,603379,584232,642572,715598,924516,978604,855
601,801406,300601,233582,50078,941240,832586,088586,335570,971594,112584,273608,310
352,7460279,059590,296603,606447,510591,671587,580575,159601,553586,902606,844
608,486548,730608,445585,160592,832570,012585,747578,292245,693207,366583,569604,188
604,084567,887606,693585,596594,084570,444583,080583,768568,757595,017580,097605,674
606,167546,327410,108246,708153,022573,633592,094591,359576,289601,210589,536611,043
611,065552,287507,808589,980602,254573,853591,112585,875576,132239,649025,925
490,769549,023608,203587,459603,692577,448506,100575,922572,336600,323587,265606,627
607,199567,646606,475585,434600,016570,882583,761512,2690170,462584,075606,904
607,642548,387607,009585,761600,744572,711553,246577,453571,543596,151586,434607,718
608,772549,352607,781586,628377,6970000000

Spent fuel storage

Spent fuel is stored outdoors in 21 16 ft storage casks, each containing 30 tons and resting on a concrete pad. This was intended to be a temporary solution until the spent fuel repository at Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository opened.

Parts replacement

Two steam generators were replaced in 1992. This involved cutting a 28 by 26 foot opening through the 3.5 ft reinforced concrete wall. The removed units are stored in a large concrete building on plant property.

Surrounding population

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants: a plume exposure pathway zone with a radius of 10 mi, concerned primarily with exposure to, and inhalation of, airborne radioactive contamination, and an ingestion pathway zone of about 50 mi, concerned primarily with ingestion of food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity.

The 2010 U.S. population within 10 mi of Palisades was 28,644, a decrease of 4.5 percent in a decade, according to an analysis of U.S. Census data for msnbc.com. The 2010 U.S. population within 50 mi was 1,326,618, an increase of 4.4 percent since 2000. Cities within 50 miles include South Bend, IN (45 miles to city center) and Kalamazoo, MI.

Seismic risk

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission's estimate of the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage to the reactor at Palisades was 1 in 156,250, according to an NRC study published in August 2010.

Visiting

View from Van Buren State Park

Like all U.S. nuclear power plants since September 11, 2001, public access to Palisades is prohibited. However, Palisades can be glimpsed from the neighboring Van Buren State Park.

Decommissioning

Originally planned to operate through May 31, 2022, concerns over a faulty control rod drive seal prompted operators to remove the plant from service on May 20.

Once all fuel is removed from the reactor core, Holtec will buy the plant from Entergy and begin a three year process of moving all fuel to dry cask storage. Then a ten year pause to allow the decommissioning trust fund balance to grow followed by a 6 year long dismantling process, with an estimated completion date of 2041.

The cost of decommissioning will be covered by a $550-million trust fund, paid for by Consumers Energy customers.

Intention to restart operations

In January 2024, the federal government was poised to offer Holtec International a $1.5 billion federal loan to restart the Palisades nuclear plant. The loan was reported at the time to potentially start as soon as February 2024. The conditional agreement was announced on March 27. If successful, Palisades would become the first U.S. nuclear reactor to restart after its fuel has been removed and its license revised to prohibit further operation. The plan for a restart by Holtec International (based in Jupiter, Florida) got a boost after Wolverine Power Cooperative, a local power company, agreed to buy as much as 2/3 of the plant’s output starting as soon as late 2025, though additional hurdles, including sign off from federal nuclear regulators, remain. Holtec acquired the 800-megawatt power plant in 2022 after Entergy Corp. closed it due to financial reasons.

The plant transitioned from decommissioned to an online status on August 27, 2025. The move allows the plant to receive nuclear fuel and begin producing electricity.

As of October 21, 2025, the Palisades plant has taken delivery of 68 nuclear fuel assemblies.

On October 21, 2025, a worker at the plant fell into the reactor cavity and had to be decontaminated.

Small modular reactor plans

In December 2023, Holtec International announced that it intended to build the first two of its SMR-300 small modular reactors at Palisades by mid-2030.

Notes

References

References

  1. "Palisades back in operation status, owner Holtec says".
  2. "EIA - State Nuclear Profiles".
  3. "Palisades - Final Safety Analysis Report Update, Revision 32, Chapter 10 - Steam and Power Conversion System". [[Nuclear Regulatory Commission]].
  4. Swidwa, Julie. (December 9, 2016). "Timeline: Palisades' rocky history". [[The Herald-Palladium]].
  5. (2006-07-12). "Entergy News Release - Corporate".
  6. (2007-01-18). "Local News: Extension approved for Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, license, plant, nuclear - wwmt.com".
  7. Galford, Chris. (2017-09-29). "Palisades Nuclear Power Plant to continue operations until 2022". Daily Energy Insider.
  8. "With Emissions Soaring, Democratic Governors Sour On Plans To Shut Down Nuclear Power".
  9. Newman, Alexandra. (September 29, 2017). "Palisades to stay open to 2022". The Herald-Palladium.
  10. [https://www.woodtv.com/news/michigan/palisades-power-plant-shuts-down-early/ Palisades Power Plant shuts down early], WOODtv, Matt Jaworowski, May 20, 2022
  11. Knot, Juliana. (June 28, 2022). "Entergy completes Palisades sale to Holtec, decommissioning begins". [[The Herald-Palladium]].
  12. Boatman, Michael. (10 September 2022). "In surprise move, Whitmer announces plan to reopen shuttered Palisades nuclear plant".
  13. House, Kelly. (21 November 2022). "Feds deny funding to reopen Michigan's Palisades nuclear plant".
  14. Beggin, Riley. "Owner of Palisades to reapply for funding to reopen nuclear power plant". Detroit News.
  15. Wittkowski, Tony. (June 27, 2023). "State, local officials push for urgency to repower former Palisades plant". The Herald-Palladium.
  16. [https://www.wolverinepowercooperative.com/2023/09/12/holtec-international-and-wolverine-power-cooperative-sign-historic-agreement-for-restart-of-palisades-nuclear-power-plant/], Retrieved 2024-01-31
  17. Niiler, Eric. (2024-08-26). "Can a Closed Nuclear Power Plant From the '70s Be Brought Back to Life? - Surging demand for electricity and new investment in green energy drove the plan to restart Michigan's decommissioned Palisades plant. It would be a global first.". [[Wall Street Journal]].
  18. (March 27, 2024). "LPO Announces Conditional Commitment to Holtec Palisades to Finance the Restoration and Resumption of Service of 800-MW Nuclear Generating Station".
  19. Halper, Evan. (July 10, 2024). "A nuclear accident made Three Mile Island infamous. AI's needs may revive it.". [[The Washington Post]].
  20. (January 31, 2024). "Report: Feds will give $1.5 billion to restart Palisades nuclear plant". Bridge Michigan.
  21. "Electricity Data Browser".
  22. "Palisades Steam Generator Replacement Project-1992 NOVA Award Winner".
  23. "Backgrounder on Emergency Preparedness at Nuclear Power Plants". [[Nuclear Regulatory Commission]].
  24. (2011-04-14). "Nuclear neighbors: Population rises near US reactors".
  25. (2011-03-16). "What are the odds? US nuke plants ranked by quake risk".
  26. "Archived copy".
  27. (20 May 2022). "Palisades nuclear power plant shuts down 11 days early".
  28. "Palisades nuclear power plant plans for 19 year decommissioning".
  29. Muyskens, Carolyn. "Regulators approve sale of soon-to-be-shuttered Palisades Nuclear Plant".
  30. (31 Jan 2024). "Holtec to be offered $1.5 billion loan to restart Palisades nuclear plant".
  31. (2024-01-30). "Biden to Offer $1.5 Billion Loan to Restart Michigan Nuclear Power Plant". Bloomberg.com.
  32. (2023-04-26). "Company seeks first-time restart of shuttered nuclear plant".
  33. "NRC Approves Changes to Palisades Nuclear Plant's Emergency Planning Requirements".
  34. Netter, Ari. "Biden to offer $1.5B loan to restart nuclear power plant on Lake Michigan".
  35. "Palisades receives fuel ahead of restart".
  36. "Michigan nuclear plant worker had to be decontaminated after falling into reactor pool".
  37. (5 December 2023). "Palisades SMR programme is under way: Holtec".
Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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