EGN NEWS DESK
The U.S. has by no means restarted a decommissioned nuclear reactor, however as we speak Holtec International closed a $1.5 billion mortgage from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office to do exactly that: The cash will assist finance the reopening of the 805-megawatt Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Covert Township, Michigan.
It’s the most recent improvement within the effort to show mothballed nuclear reactors again on-line within the U.S., the place electrical energy demand is rising for the primary time in many years. In late September, Microsoft introduced a multibillion-dollar deal to show again on Three Mile Island Unit 1 in Pennsylvania, because the tech large seeks around-the-clock carbon-free energy for its AI-fueled knowledge heart buildout.
The Palisades venture can be the primary to shut a mortgage beneath the Energy Infrastructure Reinvestment (EIR) program of the Inflation Reduction Act, which funds tasks that repower or retool idled vitality infrastructure. As of as we speak, the Loan Programs Office has $64.89 billion in functions for superior nuclear tasks into consideration or in course of; most are looking for a type of EIR funding.
Located on Lake Michigan, the Palisades plant was shuttered by utility Entergy in May 2022 due to monetary points after 50 years of operation. It was the eighth-oldest nuclear plant within the nation on the time of its closing — Palisades produced its first electrical energy on New Year’s Eve in 1971.
In June 2022, Holtec turned its new proprietor and eliminated the nuclear gasoline with plans to finish the decommissioning course of by 2041. But simply weeks later, Holtec halted the method and utilized for federal funding to show the plant again on. The firm is now aiming to restart the plant by the top of 2025 — often known as subsequent yr — with plans to offer baseload energy till 2051.
Informed insiders counsel that it’s going to take years to recommission the plant, one thing that has occurred solely a few instances worldwide.
The funds from the brand new mortgage will likely be used to carry out the inspections, testing, and restoration work essential to restart the plant, whereas Holtec concurrently pursues a reauthorization of the Palisades working license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).
Calling it “a local weather comeback story,” White House nationwide local weather adviser Ali Zaidi advised reporters at a Friday press briefing that the Palisades restart is being performed in partnership with union labor, “so we’re not simply placing metal within the floor, however metal within the backbone of the American center class … And it’s translating into jobs and financial progress on the bottom.”
Restarting Palisades is anticipated to create or maintain as much as 600 jobs, lots of them union positions, in what is taken into account a deprived group, the place residents have larger vitality burdens than these in 97 % of communities in America, in response to the DOE.
Along with the DOE funding, Palisades can even obtain a increase from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Empowering Rural America program. Last month the Inflation Reduction Act program awarded two rural electrical cooperatives within the area with over $1.3 billion in grants to buy nuclear energy from Palisades.
The USDA will present greater than $650 million to the Wolverine Power Cooperative to finance the acquisition of roughly 435 megawatts of wholesale vitality from the Palisades plant for its members throughout rural Michigan. And Hoosier Energy is being granted greater than $675 million to assist buy roughly 370 megawatts of vitality from the restarted Palisades plant, together with 250 megawatts of solar energy for its members in Illinois and Indiana.
The USDA grants will create demand for the restarted reactor’s energy — and defray the prices of nuclear energy from Palisades by one-quarter for co-op members.
In addition to the Loan Programs Office funds and the USDA grant, if Holtec efficiently repowers Palisades, it is going to be capable of faucet federal incentives similar to a $15 per megawatt-hour manufacturing tax credit score meant to maintain the prevailing nuclear fleet aggressive, in addition to an funding tax credit score meant to speed up new plant building. Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D) backs the plan and directed $150 million to the reopening effort within the state’s price range.
Reviving different closed nuclear vegetation
Palisades will not be the one U.S. nuclear plant that could possibly be introduced again from the dead.
Microsoft’s announcement earlier this month is one other high-profile instance. Three Mile Island’s Unit 1 was decommissioned in 2019 due to poor economics, however as we speak’s want for clear, agency energy may be sufficient to tug the reactor out of retirement. Microsoft has signed a $16 billion settlement to buy vitality from the reanimated plant over the course of 20 years with the intention to energy its knowledge facilities within the PJM Interconnection.
Plant operator Constellation Energy plans to spend $1.6 billion to restart the 835-megawatt reactor, which is anticipated to make use of about 600 individuals as soon as again on-line. The close by and extra notorious Three Mile Island Unit 2, the positioning of a partial meltdown in 1979, is owned by EnergyOptions and isn’t being restarted.
