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Groups opposing potential restart of Palisades

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Environmental Group Beyond Nuclear is among 185 organizations to have signed a letter to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm asking that Holtec International not receive a more than $1 billion loan to restart the Palisades plant. Beyond Nuclear’s Kevin Kamps tells us not only is restarting an old, already shut down reactor a bad idea, but Holtec wants to build some new small modular reactors at the site.

“What they would represent, if they get their way, is both extreme ends of the risk spectrum,” Kamps said. “You’d have the breakdown phase risks of the old reactor – one of the most dangerous in the country, of not the world – and you’d have the break in phase risks of these small modular nuclear reactors.”

Kamps says the name “small modular reactor” is misleading.

“The giant reactors have gone by the wayside for the most part, thankfully, and they’re replacement now is what they call small modular reactors. Some of these designs are decades old. They’re not new, they’re not advances, and they’re not small.”

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Kamps says the cost of getting Palisades back online would be around $10 billion with most coming from taxpayers. He also says Holtec is seeking to restart the facility under its old license, which would have been relinquished when operations ended. Holtec met with the NRC this week to outline how it intends to restart Palisades.