Palisades steam generator repairs on NRC docket
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission is hosting a hybrid public meeting with Holtec next week to discuss plans for needed repairs at Michigan’s Palisades nuclear plant before bringing the unit back on line.
The January 14 meeting is being held from 1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. (EST) both in person at NRC offices in Rockville, Md., and online. NRC staff will discuss with Holtec its plans to submit separate license amendment requests related to primary coolant system “leak-before-break” and steam generator sleeving at Palisades.
Holtec announced plans in 2024 to restart Palisades’ 777-MWe pressurized water reactor to help meet growing energy demand. Last year the federal government awarded Holtec a $1.5 billion loan guarantee to help finance the plant’s restart, which could happen as soon as this fall.
“Holtec will be discussing with NRC staff our plans to apply sleeving, an existing and industry-proven steam generator tube repair strategy,” said Nick Culp, senior manager of government affairs and communications for Holtec, about the meeting’s agenda. “The steam generator repairs will come as Palisades’ robust inspection, maintenance, repair, and replacement project schedule continues to prepare the plant for a return to safe and reliable generation. We have successfully completed inspections of our reactor vessel internals, containment building structure and dome, and main transformers, and are currently in the process of thorough inspections of the main turbine.”
Background and the “fix”: Palisades was shut down in May 2022 and was acquired by Holtec for decommissioning. The company changed course, however, and applied for a new operating license with the NRC as it sought financial assistance from the Department of Energy to bring Palisades back into commercial operation. In parallel, Holtec also filed for a subsequent license renewal that would allow Palisades to operate until at least 2051.
Within a nuclear plant, the steam generator is a critical component that transfers heat from the nuclear reactor to the main steam system. Steam generator degradation—most commonly manifesting as stress-corrosion on its tubes—is not new to the industry, and fixes were developed decades ago.
An NRC inspection last summer showed indications of stress cracking in 1,163 of the 16,000 steam generator tubes.
In the NRC’s words: The commission issued a preliminary notification report last September.
According to the report, “Preliminary results identified a large number of SG [steam generator] tubes with indications that require further analysis and/or repair. Further data analysis is in progress with additional tube inspections, testing, and repairs to be completed over the next few months.”
The notification concluded, “While this information does not present an immediate safety concern, the NRC is issuing this preliminary notification because it involves the potential restart of Palisades, which has high public and media interest.”
The NRC said its team of subject matter experts will ensure appropriate actions are taken prior to a Palisades restart, and inspection reports will be publicly available.
In Holtec’s words: In a January 2 post on its website, the company indicated that it is bullish about nuclear energy growth while highlighting Palisades as a big part of its “watershed year for Holtec’s trailblazing programs” in 2024:
With strong support from the state of Michigan and the federal government, Holtec launched the world’s first ever undertaking to restart a shuttered nuclear plant—the 810-MWe Palisades nuclear plant in southern Michigan—which is on track to begin generating electricity in October of this year. Our thanks to the state of Michigan, Wolverine Power Cooperative, and Hoosier Energy for blazing the trail in clean energy generation by helping resurrect Palisades, which is projected to support over 2,000 regional jobs, generate some $400 million in revenue to the regional economy, produce more than 810 megawatts of 24/7 baseload clean power, and above all, prevent over 3 million tons of CO2 from being dumped in the air every year.
In critics’ words: The antinuclear nonprofit Beyond Nuclear is trying to raise alarm over the steam generator issues—saying the units should have been replaced completely decades ago, and a restart should not happen.
Kevin Kamps, the nonprofit’s radioactive waste specialist, said in a September news release that “Consumers Energy notified the Michigan Public Service Commission in spring 2006 that Palisades’ steam generators needed replacement for the second time in the plant’s history. However, Palisades’ next owner, Entergy, never did so, from 2007 to 2022, as NRC did not require it. We’ve been warning about this pathway to reactor core meltdown, one of many at Palisades, for two decades.”
Holtec officials have said criticism of the company’s plan for the steam generators is not based on factual understanding of the restart or the company’s inspection findings.
What’s next: Culp said that more than 560 full-time employees are working on restart efforts at Palisades. Holtec has also completed the requalification of Palisades’ former nuclear operators and have two initial licensed operator classes in process to support the plant.
In addition to the federal loan guarantee, Michigan lawmakers authorized a collective $300 million in public funds in the last two budget cycles to support the Palisades restart. In addition, the federal Department of Agriculture and Rural Development granted $1.3 billion to be shared between rural electric co-ops in Michigan and Indiana to buy the plant’s entire energy output, should it be restarted.
