A company in Michigan, with the substantial help of the federal government ($1.5 billion), thinks it has solved he extreme cost of nuclear power facilities. Holtec International Inc. from Florida is $2 billion to restart the decommissioned Palisades nuclear generating station on the shores of Lake Michigan. Built in the 1970s, heydays of nuclear power, if it begins generating electricity, it will be the first decommissioned plant to come back to life in the US. Currently there are 22 decommissioned nuclear plants.The reactors still in operation today have a combined capacity of close to 100 gigawatts.Holtec bought the plan in 2018, soon thereafter the company announced plans to restart. It is decommissioning plants in New Jersey (Oyster Bay), Massachusetts (Pilgrim), and New York (Indian Point)
The interest in old nuclear facilities is driven by the need for more power. Huge computer server installations are gobbling up power. Data centers are projected to account for 8% of US demand by 2030 New laws, as in Michigan, require green energy (carbon free). At least to the Wall Street Journal, that includes nuclear power. But if the entire fuel cycle is considered that is mislabeling. Even at Pallisades, spent fuel rods will be stored above ground outside the reactor containment. If granted operating status, the plant may generate 800MW of power. [photo credit: Detroit PBS]
Some critics think the restart idea is a bad one. New plants have hardened facilities against terrorist attack and safety standards have evolved enormously. Those include a "core catcher" device that prevent melted fuel assemblies from penetrating the reactor floor, which is what happened at Fukushima. Local residents are concerned about radiation leaks. A group of 154 locals signed a petition asking the NRC to develop new rules for restarts before granting Palisades an operating license. A former operating engineer director at Palisades says the plant cannot be brought up to current standards and should not reopen.
Cheap natural gas made abundant by fracking altered the economic equation for nuclear power. Palisades opened in 1971, but by 2016 it was no longer economic. It was one of the dozen of plants closed between 2012 and 2020, primarily for economic reasons. Despite the skepticism about restarting a dead reactor, Holtec is moving ahead with its plans to generate electricity using a 1960's design with blessings from regulators. if the company succeeds, it will set a precedent for other closed facilities. NRC testified to Congress that it will reach a decision on its operating license by May 2025. Almost all the current plants are extending their original 60-year design life, and most will extend to 80 years. The nuclear Frankenstein will not die!