Palisades Nuclear Plant

NRC Preparing to Oversee First of a Kind Effort to Restart a Shuttered Plant

The Palisades Nuclear Plant (PNP) permanently ceased operations on May 20, 2022, after more than 40 years of commercial operation. In early 2023, Holtec, the licensee for PNP expressed an interest in returning the plant to an operational status.

To restart PNP, Holtec needs to (1) gain NRC approval to restore the licensing basis of the plant to an operational status; (2) return plant components to a status that supports safe operation; and (3) make any upgrades or repairs necessary to meet the proposed operational licensing basis.

NRC staff will carefully review the regulatory and licensing documents for the plant, inspect new and restored components necessary to operate safely, and continue ongoing oversight to ensure sufficiency of all plant systems and programs.

To provide oversight of this effort, the NRC has established the Palisades Nuclear Plant Restart Panel, which will guide the staff efforts to review, inspect, and confirm that PNP is ready to be returned to an operating facility. The Restart Panel will help coordinate licensing, inspection, and oversight activities across the agency to ensure that all aspects of the PNP restart project are meeting the NRC’s safety, security, and environmental requirements.

Licensing Actions Under Review

The licensee for the Palisades Nuclear Plant, Holtec Decommissioning International (HDI), is pursuing several licensing actions to restore the operational licensing basis for the plant.

The NRC recently issued a letter to Holtec informing the licensee of the new estimated NRC staff hours and completion dates necessary for the various licensing actions outlined above due to the additional effort and time required by the NRC staff to complete its review of the environmental impacts from the proposed licensing actions related to reauthorization of power operations at Palisades. The NRC staff now expects to issue its final decisions on the licensing actions by July 31, 2025. The schedule change letter is available for public review at ADAMS Accession No. ML24219A420.

Inspection Activities

Numerous NRC inspections and other oversight activities are planned to assess Holtec’s readiness to restart the Palisades plant. In support of this effort the NRC established Inspection Manual Chapter (IMC) 2562, “Light-Water Reactor Inspection Program for Restart of Reactor Facilities Following Permanent Cessation of Power Operations.” The purpose of IMC 2562 is to:

• Establish oversight policies, requirements, and guidance for transitioning from a decommissioning reactor facility to an operational power reactor facility subject to the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP).
• Detail the requirements for the inspection activities and operational plant readiness to provide reasonable assurance for safe operations following reactivation of an operating license.
• Ensure other federal agencies, state and local governments, tribal governments, the public, and other applicable stakeholders are engaged and informed.

The NRC has assembled a site-specific inspection plan related to the oversight activities necessary to assess the effectiveness of Holtec’s actions related to the potential restart of Palisades in accordance with the NRC’s health, safety, and environmental standards. The series of inspections will provide input for developing an objective and documented basis for any NRC decision to transition Palisades back to the operating reactor inspection program and resume commercial power operations. The inspection plan is available for public review at ADAMS Accession No. ML24228A195.

Publicly available inspection reports from the activities completed to date related to the efforts to resume power operations at Palisades are listed below:

March 20, 2024 – Palisades Plant Reference Simulator Inspection Report

July 15, 2024 – Palisades Nuclear Plant – Restart Inspection Report 05000255/2024011

September 18, 2024 – Preliminary Notification of Palisades Steam Generator Inspection Results

October 1, 2024 – Summary of Conference Call Regarding Steam Generator Tube Inspections

November 12, 2024 – Palisades Nuclear Plant – Restart Inspection Report 05000255/2024012 

November 13, 2024 – NRC Audit of Subsurface Investigation Activities at the Palisades Energy Center Project Site

January 24, 2025 – Palisades Nuclear Plant -- Restart Inspection Report 05000255/2024013

March 11, 2025 – Potential Restart Activity Inspection Plan for Palisades Nuclear Plant

March 26, 2025 – Palisades Nuclear Plant -- Restart Inspection Report 05000255/2025001

May 21, 2025 – Palisades Nuclear Plant -- Restart Inspection Report 05000255/2025002

Previous NRC inspection reports from the operational period for Palisades, covering the year 2000 through the shutdown date of May 20, 2022, have been made available for reference on the NRC’s Inspection Reports For Operating Power Reactors public page in the Palisades section. Note that these inspection reports do not cover the decommissioning activities completed to date at the site.

To sign up to receive NRC correspondence related to Palisades decommissioning, potential restart, and inspection activities join the Palisades listserv distribution by filling out the Operating Reactor Correspondence form with your email information.

Public Meetings

The NRC has engaged in several pre-submittal interactions with the Palisades staff on various topics related to the potential for restart, and will continue to host public meetings related to the potential for Palisades to resume power operations throughout the project.

On Wednesday, April 17, 2024, the Palisades Restart Panel hosted a public meeting in the vicinity of the Palisades site to discuss the NRC’s efforts related to regulation and oversight of the potential restart activities. The summary of that meeting is publicly available in ADAMS at ML24141A063.

On Thursday, August 1, 2024, an additional meeting was held between members of the NRC and Holtec Decommissioning International staff to discuss the status and progress of the potential restart project. The summary of that meeting is publicly available in ADAMS at ML24257A058.

On Thursday, October 3, 2024, members of the HDI and NRC staff presented to the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards to discuss various aspects of the project related to potential reauthorization of power operations at Palisades. The transcript and presentations from that meeting are publicly available in ADAMS at ML24319A182.

On Thursday, October 24, 2024, a public meeting took place between the NRC staff and HDI to discuss the licensee’s plans to resume work at Palisades on NRC Generic Letter (GL) 2004-02 (ML042360586), "Potential Impact of Debris Blockage on Emergency Recirculation during Design Basis Accidents [DBAs] at Pressurized-water Reactors [PWRs]," which is associated with Generic Safety Issue (GSI)-191, “Assessment of Debris Accumulation on Pressurized Water Reactor Sump Performance.” Additional goals for the meeting were for Holtec to provide a summary of the Palisades GL 2004-02/GSI-191 activities completed prior to cessation of power operations and give an update on the closure plan if power operations are reauthorized. The summary of that meeting is publicly available in ADAMS at ML24311A165. In addition, on December 11, 2024, the licensee provided a Milestone Schedule for Generic Letter 2004-02 Remaining Actions. 

On Wednesday, November 20, 2024, an additional meeting was held in the vicinity of the Palisades site to discuss the NRC's efforts related to inspection and oversight of the potential restart activities. The summary of that meeting is publicly available in ADAMS at ML24358A243. 

On Wednesday, April 23, 2025, an additional meeting was held in the vicinity of the Palisades site to discuss the NRC's efforts related to inspection and oversight of the potential restart activities. The summary of that meeting will be made publicly available in ADAMS as soon as it is complete.

On Tuesday, April 29, 2025, members of the HDI and NRC met to discuss the Palisades Open Phase Closure Plan, which would support potential restart of the plant by allowing HDI to close out the actions associated with NRC Bulletin 2012-02, "Design Vulnerability in Electric Power System," which is also called Open Phase Detection.” The summary of that meeting will be made publicly available in ADAMS as soon as it is complete.

Continue to check the NRC Public Meeting Page for information on any additional meetings on the Palisades Restart Project and associated actions.

Additional Activities

• On April 9, 2024, HDI provided notice of a significant change to the Palisades decommissioning schedule outlined in the Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR). This change will defer removal of spent nuclear fuel and special nuclear material from the spent fuel pool to the Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI). This change is being made to support the Palisades restart project but does not impact the current status of Palisades as a decommissioning facility.
• On April 18, 2024, HDI provided notice to the NRC of its intent to pursue subsequent license renewal as governed by 10 CFR 54, “Requirements for Renewal of Operating Licenses for Nuclear Power Plants.” According to the notice, HDI plans to submit an application for a second renewed operating license for Palisades during the first quarter of 2026 and no later than March 24, 2026. The first license renewal period for Palisades expires on March 24, 2031. Additional information regarding the NRC’s subsequent license renewal process can be found on the NRC’s public website under the Reactor License Renewal heading.
• On August 15, 2024, HDI provided notice regarding the transition of the payroll for site employees from HDI to its affiliate Palisades Energy, LLC. This transition was made effective August 14, 2024, to support the need to track PNP personnel costs separately from other employees to comply with the U.S. Department of Energy loan guarantee program requirements that govern the PNP restart project.
• On October 9, 2024, HDI requested recission of two previous exemptions related to the amount of onsite and offsite insurance coverage for PNP. The approved exemptions reduced the amount of coverage required for the facility considering its decommissioning status; therefore, rescinding the exemptions will increase the coverage levels to their previously required amounts.
• On December 4, 2024, HDI requested recission of three previous exemptions related to (1) allowing either a certified fuel handler or a licensed senior operator to approve the temporary suspension of security measures for Palisades during certain emergency conditions or during severe weather; (2) recordkeeping requirements during decommissioning; and (3) withdrawals from the Palisades nuclear decommissioning trust fund for spent fuel management and site restoration activities without prior notice to the NRC in the same manner that withdrawals are made for decommissioning activities. Rescinding the exemptions will reinstate the requirements in place during operation of Palisades.
• Holtec International has stated its intention to request NRC approval to build small modular reactors (SMRs) at Palisades. The NRC is engaged in preapplication activities with SMR, LLC (A Holtec International Company) to construct and operate a dual unit facility of the SMR-300 design at the Palisades site. Details on the SMR-300 design, status of preapplication activities, and planned engagements may be found on the NRC’s SMR-300 Pre‑Application Activities public webpage. Information on the SMR (Holtec) initial design, the SMR-160, may be found on the SMR (Holtec) Designs public webpage.
• On March 3, 2025, HDI provided the 50-Year Containment Tendon Surveillance Inspection Summary Report for Palisades. According to the report, based on an evaluation of the 50-year tendon surveillance results, and after reviewing the acceptable disposition of non-conforming items, HDI concluded that the containment structure has not experienced abnormal degradation related to the post-tensioning system and continues to be operable. This report was supplemented on April 15, 2025.
• Holtec International has stated its intention to request NRC approval to build small modular reactors (SMRs) at Palisades. The NRC is engaged in preapplication activities with SMR, LLC (A Holtec International Company) to construct and operate a dual unit facility of the SMR-300 design at the Palisades site. Details on the SMR-300 design, status of preapplication activities, and planned engagements may be found on the NRC’s SMR-300 Pre‑Application Activities public webpage. Information on the SMR (Holtec) initial design, the SMR-160, may be found on the SMR (Holtec) Designs public webpage.

Other Documents of Interest

Palisades Transition Quality Assurance Program (TQAP)

The TQAP that will govern the quality-related activities associated with the potential restart of Palisades during the transitional period between decommissioning and resumption of power operations is available at ADAMS Accession No. ML24215A356 (see Enclosure 3).

Annual Environmental Monitoring Reports Since Shutdown

• Palisades Nuclear Plant and Big Pock Point Plant - 2021 Annual Radioactive Effluent Release and Waste Disposal Report
• Palisades Nuclear Plant - 2021 Radiological Environmental Operating Report
• Palisades Nuclear Plant - 2021 Annual Non-Radiological Environmental Operating Report
• Palisades Nuclear Plant and Big Rock Point - 2022 Annual Radioactive Effluent Release and Waste Disposal Report
• Palisades Nuclear Plant - 2022 Radiological Environmental Operating Report
• Palisades Nuclear Plant - 2022 Annual Non-Radiological Environmental Operating Report
• Palisades Nuclear Plant - 2023 Annual Radioactive Effluent Release and Waste Disposal Report
• Palisades Nuclear Plant - 2023 Radiological Environmental Operating Report
• Palisades Nuclear Plant - 2023 Annual Non-Radiological Environmental Operating Report
• Palisades Nuclear Plant - 2024 Annual Radioactive Effluent Release Report
• Palisades Nuclear Plant - 2024 Annual Non-Radiological Environmental Operating Report

Annual Decommissioning Funding Status Reports Since Shutdown

• March 28, 2022 - Decommissioning Funding Status Report Covering Calendar Year 2021
• March 31, 2023 - Decommissioning Funding Status Report Covering Calendar Year 2022
• March 29, 2024 - Decommissioning Funding Status Report Covering Calendar Year 2023
• March 31, 2025 - Decommissioning Funding Status Report Covering Calendar Year 2024

Previous Environmental Impact Statements

• NUREG-1437, "Generic Environmental Impact Statement for License Renewal of Nuclear Plants," Supplement 27, regarding Palisades Nuclear Plant, was published in October 2006.
• NUREG-0343, “Final Addendum to the Final Environmental Statement Related to Operation of Palisades Nuclear Generating Plant,” was published in February 1978.
• “Final Environmental Statement Related to the Operation of Palisades Nuclear Generating Plant” was issued in June 1972.

For additional questions please use the NRC’s newly established email address for topics specifically concerning the potential restart of Palisades, which is PalisadesRestartProject@nrc.gov. Correspondence sent to this address will be routed to the appropriate NRC program office as needed, including the Office of Public Affairs.

The Palisades Nuclear Plant (PNP) potential reauthorization of power operations project is undergoing a NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) review. NEPA requires Federal agencies to assess the environmental effects of proposed major Federal actions, such as the licensing actions under review to support potential restart of PNP, prior to making decisions. Therefore, the proposed Federal actions for the potential reauthorization of power operations at PNP require a NEPA review.

Level of NEPA Review

A proposed Federal action can involve one of three different levels of analysis, depending on the significance of a proposed Federal action's potential effects on the environment: Categorical Exclusion (CATEX); Environmental Assessment (EA); and Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The NRC staff, after reviewing the criteria in 10 CFR 51.20, 10 CFR 51.21, and 10 CFR 51.22, as well as the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation (NRR) Office Instruction LIC-203, Revision 4, “Procedural Guidance for Preparing Categorical Exclusions, Environmental Assessments, and Considering Environmental Issues,” has determined that an EA, with scoping and a draft comment period to assure public participation to the greatest extent, is the appropriate level of NEPA review for the PNP potential reauthorization of power operations project. This determination is based largely on concluding that the submittals (1) are either not collectively covered by the criteria for a categorical exclusion or, in the case of the license transfer request, do not fall within the factual basis underlying the corresponding categorical exclusion; (2) are connected (i.e., interdependent) actions that should be considered together as part of the NEPA review; and (3) are not specifically covered by the criteria for preparing an EIS because the NRC does not yet know the significance of potential impacts from the proposed actions.

The EA is a decisional document. That is, the NRC determines, based on the EA, one of two actions:

• Preparation of a "finding of no significant impact" (FONSI): If the action is determined to not have a significant impact on the environment, the NRC will prepare a FONSI as specified in 10 CFR 51.32; or
• Preparation of an EIS: If the NRC determines that the proposed action has the potential to significantly impact the environment, the NRC will prepare an EIS.

Therefore, ultimately, the EA documents the evaluation of whether an action constitutes a “major Federal action” significantly affecting the human environment. For the Palisades PNP potential reauthorization of power operations project, the EA will identify the key environmental impacts of the project and, if no significant impacts are found, a FONSI will be prepared.

Scoping
 
Scoping identifies and defines the range of actions, alternatives, and environmental issues to be considered in the environmental document. Scoping helps the NRC identify significant issues to be analyzed, as well as issues already addressed in prior reviews or otherwise not needing significant analysis.
 
The scoping process begins with the NRC publishing a Notice of Intent (NOI) to conduct scoping in the Federal Register:

• The FRN NOI is available in the Federal Register under:
  • Docket No. 50-255; NRC-2024-0076

Public participation is key to scoping; the NRC gathers comments from individuals, organizations, and other governmental agencies to help define the environmental analysis. The NRC staff conducted a hybrid environmental scoping meeting related to the review the of licensing and regulatory requests to reauthorize power operations at the Palisades.

• Public scoping meeting presentation materials included:
  • Open House Scoping Posters
  • NRC Presentation on Palisades Nuclear Plant Potential Reauthorization Scoping Meeting

The NRC has completed the Palisades Scoping Summary Report (ADAMS Accession No.ML24353A149). The report contains a summary of the comments received during the scoping period grouped by subject area and issues of concern that are in scope and considered as part of the environmental review.

Audit

As part of the NRC’s environmental review, the staff conducted an environmental regulatory audit. The audit is conducted during the environmental review with the intent to gain understanding, verify information, and identify information required to support the basis of the licensing or regulatory decisions necessary for the reauthorization of power operations at PNP.

During the environmental audit, the NRC reviewed documents that were made available in response to the NRC staff's draft requests for additional information (RAIs). The NRC also participated in site visits and breakout sessions for each resource area with applicant personnel to gather information that will likely be used in the EA. As described in the June 27, 2024, correspondence listed below, this information assisted the NRC staff in identifying either subsequent Requests for Confirmatory Information (RCIs), issued while the audit remained open or, finalizing draft RAIs (ADAMS Accession No. ML24248A056) and any newly identified RAIs that might be needed to allow the staff to conduct a complete review and prepare the EA. As such, a number of the draft RAIs were either (1) closed, primarily due to clarification from the audit or availability of public information, (2) addressed in an RCIs (ML24248A261), or (3) became a final RAI (ML24263A171). Responses to the RCI (ML24260A354) and RAI (ML24278A027) have been received by the NRC.

The NRC has completed a summary of the 2024 Environmental Audit related to the Reauthorization Request for Palisades Nuclear Plant (ADAMS Accession No. ML24353A174).

Draft EA and Draft FONSI:

The NRC staff prepared a draft EA and draft FONSI (ML24353A157) documenting its environmental review after consideration of public scoping comments. Based on the environmental review, the NRC made a preliminary determination that the proposed actions would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment, and the NRC staff made a preliminary determination that it would not prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) and that a draft FONSI appeared warranted. The NRC offered a 30-day public comment period. Methods for submitting comments are included in the federal register notice.

After consideration of the public comments, the NRC staff makes a final determination as to whether preparation of an EIS is necessary or whether a FONSI can be issued for the licensing and regulatory approvals for Palisades.

Final EA and FONSI:

The NRC, as the lead agency, and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Loan Programs Office (LPO), as a cooperating agency, completed an EA and determined that a finding of FONSI is warranted regarding the NRC’s and DOE LPO's consideration of the proposed Federal actions related to reauthorizing power operations at the Palisades.

Based on the NRC staff’s and DOE LPO’s determinations in the final EA that the environmental impacts of the proposed actions would be NOT SIGNIFICANT for each potentially affected resource area, the NRC staff and DOE LPO staff have determined, after consideration of public comments, that the proposed Federal actions would not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Accordingly, the NRC staff and DOE LPO staff have made a determination that preparation of an EIS is not required for the proposed Federal actions and that a FONSI is warranted.
 

Major Milestones

 

 
Contacts
 
Laura Willingham (Laura.Willingham@nrc.gov)
Mary Richmond (Mary.Richmond@nrc.gov)

Upcoming Activities
 
A Draft EA is now available for public review and comment.
How to Comment on the Draft EA and Draft FONSI:

Any interested party may submit comments on this draft EA and draft FONSI. The public commenting process affords an opportunity for public input on NRC decision-making and allows the public an opportunity to comment on alternatives and on the NRC’s analysis of potential environmental effects. Public commenting allows the NRC to make better informed decisions.
The deadline for submitting comments on this draft EA is 30 days after the date that it is published in the Federal Register. Comments received after the expiration of the comment period will be considered if it is practical to do so, but assurance of consideration of late comments cannot be given. The NRC encourages electronic comment submission through the Federal Rulemaking website (https://www.regulations.gov) or via email to PalisadesRestartEnvironmental@nrc.gov. Please include Docket ID NRC-2024-0076 in your comment submission.
The NRC cautions you not to include identifying or contact information that you do not want to be publicly disclosed in your comment submission. The NRC will post all comment submissions at https://www.regulations.gov, as well as enter the comment submissions into Agencywide Documents Access and Management System. The NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove identifying or contact information.
If you are requesting or aggregating comments from other persons for submission to the NRC, then you should inform those persons not to include identifying or contact information that they do not want to be publicly disclosed in their comment submission. Your request should state that the NRC does not routinely edit comment submissions to remove such information before making the comment submissions available to the public or entering the comment into Agencywide Documents Access and Management System.
 
To keep informed of additional activities related to the environmental review for the potential reauthorization of power operations at PNP follow the QR code below:
 

1.0 Site Identification

2.0 Site Status Summary

Palisades is a single unit pressurized water reactor located along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan in Covert Township, and consists of the pressurized water reactor, other associated plant equipment, and related site facilities. Palisades is also the site of the generally licensed Palisades independent spent fuel storage installation.

By letter dated June 13, 2022, Entergy Nuclear Palisades (ENP) certified that all fuel had been removed from the reactor. On June 28, 2022 (ML22173A179), the operating license for Palisades was transferred from Entergy to Holtec Decommissioning International (HDI) for the purpose of decommissioning Palisades. HDI submitted the Palisades Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) to the NRC on December 23, 2020, and official review of the HDI PSDAR commenced after completion of the license transfer. A PSDAR public meeting was held in the vicinity of the Palisades plant on September 22, 2022 (ML22292A261).

Significant Decommissioning Licensing Documents:

• Certification of Permanent Cessation of Power Operations – ML17004A062, ML17271A233, and ML17292A032
• Certification of Permanent Removal of Fuel from the Reactor Vessel – ML22164A067
• Palisades Post-Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) and Site-Specific Decommissioning Cost Estimate (DCE) – ML20358A232
• NRC Staff Review of the Palisades PSDAR and DCE – ML23087A035
• Approval of the Certified Fuel Handler (CFH) Training Program – ML17151A350
• Amendment to the Administrative Controls Section of Technical Specifications – ML18114A410
• Exemption from the Requirements of 10 CFR Part 73, Sections 73.55(p)(1)(i) and (p)(1)(ii) Related to the Suspension of Security Measures in an Emergency or During Severe Weather – ML17216A802
• Amendment to Revise Emergency Response Organization (ERO) Staffing Requirements – ML18170A219
• Exemption from Certain Record Retention Requirements – ML21195A368
• Exemption for use of the Decommissioning Trust Fund – ML21286A581
• Amendment to Revise the Palisades License and Technical Specifications to Reflect the Permanently Defuled Condition – ML22039A198
• Amendment to Approve the Permanently Defueled Emergency Plan (PDEP) – ML23236A004
• Exemption from Portions of 10 CFR 50.47 Related to Emergency Preparedness Requirements – ML23263A977
• Exemption from 10 CFR 50.54(w)(1) to Reduce On-Site Property Damage Insurance – ML23191A522
• Exemption from 10 CFR 140.11(a)(4) to Reduce Off-Site Liability Insurance Requirements – ML23192A077

Several of these licensing actions may be amended or reversed by the ongoing activities related to the potential for Palisades to resume operations.

3.0 Major Technical or Regulatory Issues

None

4.0 Estimated Date for Closure

Calendar year 2041