Palisades Nuclear Generating Station

The Palisades Nuclear Generating Station is a moth-balled <a href="/facts/Nuclear_power_plant/IJj5pJUn">nuclear power plant</a> located on <a href="/facts/Lake_Michigan/t5ynSsvY">Lake Michigan</a>, in <a href="/facts/Van_Buren_County%2c_Michigan/Sgltsnty">Van Buren County's</a> <a href="/facts/Covert_Township%2c_Michigan/Gnf7SFUP">Covert Township, Michigan</a>, on a 432-acre (175 ha) site 5 miles (8.0 km) south of <a href="/facts/South_Haven%2c_Michigan/v3A2vsdM">South Haven, Michigan</a>, USA. Palisades was operated by the <a href="/facts/Nuclear_Management_Company/7bvqNy6D">Nuclear Management Company</a> and owned by <a href="/facts/CMS_Energy/mJHAvJq5">CMS Energy</a> prior to the sale to <a href="/facts/Entergy/JzbAIuRc">Entergy</a> on April 11, 2007.
Its single <a href="/facts/Combustion_Engineering/EPYErxhw">Combustion Engineering</a> <a href="/facts/Pressurized_water_reactor/2hSL4Hv0">pressurized water reactor</a> weighs 425 tons and has steel walls 8+1⁄2 inches (220 mm) thick. The containment building is 116 feet (35 m) in diameter and 189 feet (58 m) tall, including the dome. Its concrete walls are 3+1⁄2 feet (1.1 m) thick with a 1⁄4-inch-thick (6.4 mm) steel liner plate. The dome roof is 3 feet (0.91 m) thick. Access is via a personnel lock measuring 3 feet 6 inches (1.07 m) by 7 feet 8 inches (2.34 m). The <a href="/facts/Westinghouse_Electric_Company/sVQIoyB4">Westinghouse Electric Company</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Nuclear_Regulatory_Commission/tbC56grX">Nuclear Regulatory Commission</a>. 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 <a href="/facts/Michigan_Public_Service_Commission/L0DXhqnU">Michigan Public Service Commission</a> (MPSC) influenced the company's decision. <a href="/facts/Consumers_Energy/zNvm8dQA">Consumers Energy</a> 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 <a href="/facts/Gretchen_Whitmer/XbpBSjnC">Gretchen Whitmer</a> requested federal funding to keep the facility open.
Entergy closed the Palisades plant in May 2022 and its sale to <a href="/facts/Holtec_International/YLNxuXo7">Holtec International</a> 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 <a href="/facts/U.S._Department_of_Energy/PRp6Cz8g">Department of Energy</a> 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.

Palisades Nuclear Generating Station open-in-new

Palisades Nuclear Generating Station