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Palisades Nuclear Generating Station | HearLore
— Ch. 1 · Steel Walls And Concrete Cores —
Palisades Nuclear Generating Station.
~5 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
The Palisades Nuclear Generating Station rose from the soil of Van Buren County between 1967 and 1970. A single Combustion Engineering pressurized water reactor sat at its heart, weighing 425 tons. Steel walls thick enough to withstand immense pressure surrounded the core. The containment building stretched across a specific diameter and reached a height including the dome. Concrete walls measured several feet in thickness with a steel liner plate inside. The dome roof itself was thick enough to provide additional structural integrity. Access for personnel occurred through a lock measuring specific dimensions. Westinghouse Electric Company provided the turbine generator capable of producing 725,000 kilowatts of electricity. Engineers approved the facility to operate at full power in 1973 after years of construction.
Corporate Sales And Ownership Changes
On the 12th of July 2006, officials announced that the plant would be sold to Entergy. The transaction closed on the 11th of April 2007, when the sale price hit $380 million. CMS Energy had owned the facility prior to this transfer. The original licensee license was due to expire on the 24th of March 2011. An application for a 20-year extension appeared before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission in 2005. Regulators granted that extension on the 18th of January 2007. This approval meant the plant was scheduled for decommissioning by 2031 under previous plans. Entergy made a decision to close the plant in October 2018 following pressure from state regulators. Consumers Energy attempted to buy its way out of a power purchase agreement with Entergy and the plant. The Michigan Public Service Commission did not approve Consumer Energy's full request of $172 million. Consequently, Entergy decided to keep the plant open three years longer than originally planned. The sale to Holtec International completed in June 2022.
When did the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station begin operation?
Engineers approved the facility to operate at full power in 1973 after years of construction. The plant rose from the soil of Van Buren County between 1967 and 1970.
Who owns the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station as of August 2024?
Holtec International completed the sale to the company in June 2022. As of August 2024, Holtec secured $300 million in state funding to restart the plant.
What is the decommissioning completion date for the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station?
The estimated completion date for the dismantling process is 2041. This timeline follows a three-year fuel removal period and a ten-year pause to allow the trust fund balance to grow.
How much electricity did the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station generate in 2018?
The year 2018 recorded a total of 5,455,940 megawatt-hours before final shutdown. Westinghouse Electric Company provided the turbine generator capable of producing 725,000 kilowatts of electricity.
When was public access to the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station prohibited?
Public access to Palisades has been prohibited since the 11th of September 2001 like all U.S. nuclear power plants. The facility closed operations in May 2022 after weeks of operational uncertainty.
Originally planned to operate through the 31st of May 2022, concerns over a faulty control rod drive seal prompted operators to remove the plant from service on May 20. Entergy closed the Palisades plant in May 2022 after weeks of operational uncertainty. A decision by the Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer requested federal funding to keep the facility open just days before closure. Holtec applied for funds from the Civil Nuclear Credit in September 2022. That request received denial in November 2022. In December 2022, Holtec announced it would reapply for funds from the Civil Nuclear Credit to restart operations. Other efforts have been made to repower the plant. On the 20th of April 2022, Michigan governor Gretchen Whitmer requested federal funding to keep the facility open. The cost of decommissioning will be covered by a $550-million trust fund paid for by Consumers Energy customers. Once all fuel is removed from the reactor core, Holtec began a three-year process of moving all fuel to dry cask storage. Then a ten-year pause allows the decommissioning trust fund balance to grow followed by a six-year long dismantling process with an estimated completion date of 2041.
The Historic Restart Initiative
On the 12th of September 2023, Holtec and Wolverine Power Cooperative announced that they had reached a power purchase agreement to restart the plant once approval was granted. As of August 2024, Holtec secured $300 million in state funding to restart the plant. The Department of Energy prepared to offer a $1.5 billion loan to assist in restarting operations. If operations resume, planned for late 2025, the plant would become the first nuclear power plant to restart operations in the country. The plant changed its status from decommissioned to operational on the 27th of August 2025. 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 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 got a boost after Wolverine Power Cooperative agreed to buy as much as two-thirds of the plant's output starting as soon as late 2025.
Decades Of Electricity Production
Electricity production data shows annual generation figures across decades of operation prior to closure. The year 2001 saw total generation reach 2,331,046 megawatt-hours. Annual totals fluctuated significantly over time with peaks reaching over 7 million megawatt-hours in years like 2016. The year 2018 recorded a total of 5,455,940 megawatt-hours before final shutdown. Monthly variations appeared throughout the calendar year with some months showing zero or negative values due to maintenance or testing periods. The year 2022 ended with a total of 2,730,230 megawatt-hours before the facility ceased operations. Data from 2002 showed an annual total of 6,357,962 megawatt-hours. Records from 2005 indicated a high of 6,643,616 megawatt-hours generated that year. These statistics reflect the capacity fluctuations experienced during the plant's operational life.
Safety Protocols And Seismic Risk
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission defines two emergency planning zones around nuclear power plants. A plume exposure pathway zone extends with a specific radius concerned primarily with exposure to airborne radioactive contamination. An ingestion pathway zone covers about another distance concerned primarily with food and liquid contaminated by radioactivity. The 2010 U.S. population within one zone was 28,644 people according to Census data analysis. The population within the larger zone reached 1,326,618 in 2010. Cities within 50 miles include South Bend and Kalamazoo. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission estimated the risk each year of an earthquake intense enough to cause core damage at Palisades as 1 in 156,250. This estimate appeared in an NRC study published in August 2010. Spent fuel is stored outdoors in 21 storage casks each containing 30 tons resting on a concrete pad. Public access to Palisades has been prohibited since the 11th of September 2001 like all U.S. nuclear power plants.