Palisades: Restart projects, Holtec IPO, lawsuit dismissal—but no restart date
The ongoing work to restart Holtec’s Palisades nuclear power plant, which last operated in 2022, has transitioned out of large-scale projects and into smaller activities, plant owner and operator Holtec International announced last week. However, no firm start date for the Covert, Mich., facility has been announced.
Holtec described it as a “watershed moment“ as the last of the major projects were closed out. Those major projects included placing the plant's turbine generator on a turning gear. The turbine generator underwent extensive inspections, maintenance, testing, and refurbishment, Holtec said. Another major project was the installation and testing of a new fuel handling machine.
“Together, these projects represent the culmination of a series of major efforts carried out across the station,“ Holtec said. “They mark an important transition in the Palisades restart, which included reactor vessel inspections and replacement of reactor head penetrations, primary system chemical decontamination and passivation, steam generator tube refurbishment and secondary-side cleaning, fuel receipt and inspection, operator training and requalification, and numerous equipment upgrades and modernization projects.“
What remains: According to Holtec, more than 5,000 individual work activities remain on the checklist. However, these smaller projects involve routine maintenance, testing, inspection, and operational readiness work. Palisades managers, superintendents, and supervisors have shifted their focus to the remaining work through the Operations Command Center (OCC) and several dedicated coordination teams, the company said.
“We are proud of the tenacity and rigorous persistence of our people, and grateful for the sense of purpose and dedication they bring to this historic effort,” said Jason Stairs, lead OCC shift outage manager, in a statement. “Our focus remains on safely completing the remaining work required as we prepare for fuel load.”
But when will Palisades restart? A Holtec update published on its website earlier this year said it likely would be reconnected to the grid by the end of February 2026, but that date has come and gone. Nuclear Newswire provided an update in the spring, when Holtec said Palisades would restart "when the plant is ready for long-term operations.”
A statement from Holtec this week said, "Palisades remains focused on returning the plant to safe and reliable operation once all restart work is complete and all federal requirements and industry standards are met. With major projects complete and new fuel on site ready for loading into the reactor core, the station continues to make steady progress toward becoming the first nuclear plant in U.S. history to return to operation following permanent shutdown."
CEO updates: In an interview with the Financial Times, Holtec founder and CEO Kris Singh said he expects Palisades to “restart this year, ahead of its contract to supply power by March 2027.“
The interview included Singh sharing the company's imminent plans to announce an IPO. Multiple news outlets have reported that the IPO could be valued at $10 billion. He also discussed plans to site two Holtec SMR-300 reactors at the Palisades site, telling the Financial Times that the two SMRs should be producing power by 2031 and hinting at possibly stepping away from his position once that milestone is reached.
Lawsuit dropped: The latest news from Holtec and Palisades includes a decision from the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan to dismiss a lawsuit from three environmental groups seeking to block the restart. In a November lawsuit, the plaintiffs challenged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission's decision to exempt Palisades from a rule preventing a decommissioned nuclear plant from restarting.
The court found that the Atomic Energy Act and the Hobbs Act grant the U.S. Court of Appeals the power to review an exemption decision regarding nuclear licensing proceedings. The U.S. Court of Appeals had already reviewed the June 2025 exemption decision.
“We are pleased that the court left in place the NRC’s exemption decision, which will allow the Palisades plant to move forward toward restart,” Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Adam Gustafson said. “By clearing the way for this project, the court’s decision advances domestic energy production and allows American communities to benefit from reliable nuclear power.”
