An open house for the public to learn the latest about the effort to restart the Palisades nuclear power plant will be held next week in Benton Harbor.
Holtec International’s Nick Culp tells us the company has been holding public sessions periodically to be transparent and answer any questions the community might have. On hand for next week’s event will be staff from Holtec.
“They’ll have the opportunity to meet with site leadership as well as plant subject matter experts who will be available to discuss the work that’s currently going on at the site,” Culp said. “We’ll also have some members from our human resources department on hand to talk about career opportunities.”
Culp says they’ve now got about 580 staff on site at Palisades, but they still are making hires.
As the restart date nears, Culp says Southwest Michigan has been engaged with Holtec.
“But we’re still hearing from people who are very curious about the project. They have questions about how nuclear energy works. They want to better understand the work that’s being done. This is the first time in U.S. history that a nuclear plant has come back online, and so there’s a general curiosity about it.”
Next Tuesday’s open house will be from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Palisades Joint Information Center at 330 West Main Street in Benton Harbor. Anyone can stop in.
Meanwhile, Culp tells us the Palisades restart remains on schedule and within budget. The goal is to restart the plant in the fourth quarter of this year.
