Holtec Recovers Tilted Palisades Fuel Assembly, Sets No Restart Date

Holtec International said on Oct. 21 it had recovered a tilted fuel assembly from the reactor at its roughly 800 MW Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan, so fuel loading can resume, but it set no restart date.

The company used a Fuel Movement Device it says it designed, built and delivered in two weeks, because standard refueling equipment could not handle the job. Crews raised the assembly from the reactor vessel into a custom transfer canister, sealed the lid inside the reactor cavity and moved the canister to the spent fuel pool, where the assembly is now stored, Holtec said in a statement. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approved the licence amendment that allowed the custom equipment and procedure on Oct. 13.

That step changes the picture Voltgrid described on Oct. 21, in a story filed before Holtec's release. It listed Palisades as having loaded fuel in August with output expected around March 2027. In fact, loading began on Aug. 30 but paused when an assembly tipped, and it is not finished. March 2027 is a contract deadline, not a Holtec forecast. Holtec now says only that the plant will run once fuel loading, testing, inspections and readiness work are done and all federal requirements are met.

March 2027 PPA Deadline for Palisades

All of Palisades' capacity is sold under fixed-price power purchase agreements (PPAs) with two rural cooperatives, Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy. According to Holtec's Sept. 8 Form S-1/A filing, those contracts require the site to be in service by March 2027. If it is not, either side may end a contract, and Holtec would owe a terminating buyer its share of an aggregate $100 million termination payment. The same filing said Holtec expected to finish the restart in 2026, ahead of the March 2027 date, a target set before the assembly tipped. The Oct. 21 release repeats no such date.

The assembly tipped 30 degrees shortly after loading began in late August, Michigan Public reported, and Holtec and the NRC are still investigating why. The station reported that earlier repairs, including fixes to about 1,400 cracked steam generator tubes, have already pushed the schedule back by a year.

NRC Chilled Work Environment Finding

On Oct. 13, the NRC also found a chilled work environment, meaning, in the NRC's words as quoted by The National, employees hesitant to raise safety concerns without fear of retaliation, in the plant's supply chain and quality assurance departments. The regulator said the finding involves no violations and is not expected to affect the planned restart, but Holtec must file a corrective action plan within 30 days, which falls in mid-November.

Critics are pressing further. Arnie Gundersen, an adviser to the group Don't Waste Michigan, told The National that nine of 15 licensed reactor operators failed their exam and has written to Sen. Edward Markey. That figure is his claim; no NRC document Voltgrid reviewed states it.

What Stands Between Palisades and Power

The NRC's Oct. 13 approval covered one task: letting Holtec use custom equipment and procedures to move the tilted assembly from the core to the spent fuel pool. It was not a restart approval. Holtec began loading fuel on Aug. 30, its S-1/A says, and testing, inspections and startup activities follow the end of loading before power operations.

Holtec still lists fuel loading, testing, inspections and operational readiness, and gives no date. Its PPAs with Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy require the site in service by March 2027 or either side may terminate. That is a contract deadline, so until the reactor reaches power, any restart date is a target.

What to Watch Next at Palisades

For data-center buyers, Palisades is the test case for restarts. Its output goes to cooperatives rather than a tech company, but by Voltgrid's reading it is the furthest along of the three US restarts it tracks, with fuel loading under way. NRC final decisions are still pending on Constellation's 835 MW Crane plant for Microsoft (estimated Mar. 4, 2027) and NextEra Energy's 615 MW Duane Arnold plant, whose output Google would buy under a 25-year agreement (estimated Jan. 29, 2028). The dated items to watch are Holtec's corrective action plan in mid-November, the end of fuel loading and the March 2027 PPA deadline. Until the reactor reaches power, any restart date is a target.