Southwest Michigan could be the first place in the U.S. to have a new kind of smaller nuclear reactor on site.
That’s if things go to plan for Holtec International, the company that owns the former Palisades nuclear plant near South Haven.
Holtec wants to restart the original Palisades reactor. Restarting a reactor would be a first in the U.S. and Palisades still hasn’t secured final regulatory approval on that plan.
But executives detailed additional plans Tuesday for another first: to build and operate two new small modular reactors on the site to generate nuclear power.
“I call it a red letter day, in the annals of nuclear - commercial nuclear energy, that I believe will be recognized as the day when new nuclear was born in the form of small, modular reactors,” said Kris Singh, CEO of Holtec.
Tuesday, Singh signed an agreement with executives at Hyundai Engineering & Construction to build the small modular reactors. Holtec says it plans to have those reactors in place by 2030, if it can secure regulatory approval.
It says the two modular reactors will be able to provide more than 600 megawatts of power, which could come in addition to the 800 megawatts of power expected from the existing reactor, if the plans succeed.
Singh and other executives at Holtec acknowledged Tuesday their plans involve overcoming many challenges, and it will ultimately be up to federal regulators to decide if they’ve overcome those challenges to be able to safely operate the reactors at the site which sits along Lake Michigan.
But Tuesday they said the plans remain on track, despite pushback last month from staff at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that called Holtec’s timeline for the approvals “very demanding.”
And executives say they also don’t anticipate any setbacks from the change in administrations in Washington D.C.
Kelly Trice, president of Holtec, said the Trump administration so far, has seemed supportive of nuclear energy, and of the Palisades plans. Holtec secured a $1.5 billion dollar loan from the Department of Energy while Joe Biden was in the Oval Office. Trice says that loan doesn’t seem to have been affected by the Trump administration’s recent cost-cutting moves.
“Friday was my last conversation with the Department of Energy,” Trice said. “Literally no negative impact whatsoever.”
Some nearby residents have criticized the plans to restart the reactor at Palisades, raising safety concerns about the aging facility.
Holtec executives say they believe they can operate the plant safely. They said Tuesday they’ve already hired 560 people to work at the plant.
