Holtec International has announced that new nuclear fuel has been delivered and is now being stored at the Palisades Plant in Covert Township, ahead of the planned restart of the plant, possibly as early as December.
Here is the full text of the release from Holtec:
The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township has received new nuclear fuel – 68 assemblies in total – achieving a major milestone on the path to restarting the plant. Procuring new fuel was among the earliest long-lead activities in the project, requiring months of technical preparation and regulatory coordination. Palisades’ historic transition from decommissioning to operations status that occurred with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s authorization in late August 2025 enabled the plant to receive new fuel at the site.
The fuel was fabricated domestically by a highly respected nuclear fuel manufacturer that has supplied Palisades and others in the nuclear industry for decades. Upon arrival and in-depth quality inspection, the accepted batch of fuel was placed in secure storage within the Spent Fuel Pool Building where it will remain until its loading in the Reactor core.
Palisades reactor engineers perform a detailed inspection of new fuel assemblies before placement in the site’s new fuel storage racks.
In parallel, major equipment restoration work is progressing across the plant. Reassembly of the Main Turbine Generator is underway following more than a year of inspection, testing, and maintenance work. In another notable achievement, the Plant has recently received and installed the second (and last) fully refurbished Primary Coolant Pump (PCP) motor, which is essential to recirculate the reactor coolant.
Another significant piece of restorative work is the chemical cleaning of the secondary side of the Steam Generators. This work effort follows successful completion of refurbishing of the Steam Generators’ tubes earlier this summer and is intended to ensure long-term reliability and efficiency of the plant. The above-mentioned major milestone achievements headline hundreds of activities that our dedicated personnel are tackling to deliver the project.
“The esprit de corps of our tirelessly toiling worker force, over 1,800 strong boosted by the stout support of federal, state, and local government as well as our industry partners, labor, and the Southwest Michigan community, is a testament to the national consensus and our collective will to harness nuclear energy to meet the galloping demand for power in our country,” says Holtec’s CEO, Dr. Kris Singh.
