Project could mark first recommissioning of retired nuclear power plant in US
The US Department of Energy (DOE) has released an $83.2m (€71m) loan disbursement to Holtec International, bringing total federal funding to $335.1m as the company moves towards completing the country’s first commercial nuclear reactor restart at the Palisades nuclear station.
The fifth instalment under the DOE’s $1.52bn loan guarantee was announced on 7 August and follows key Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) approvals that pave the way for the plant to load fuel and resume power operations.
Palisades, a single 805-MW pressurised water reactor unit in Covert Township, Michigan, was originally shut down in May 2022 and is set to return to service and operate until at least 2051.
It could mark the first-ever recommissioning of a retired nuclear power plant in US history.
Palisades began commercial operation in 2022 and ceased operations in May 2022.
Holtec bought Palisades to decommission the facility, which had struggled to compete with natural gas-fired plants and renewable energy. But in early 2023, Holtec applied to the DOE for federal loan funding to repower the plant.
In late 2023, Holtec began filing licensing and regulatory requests to support returning the plant to operational status.
The DOE has now disbursed funds for Palisades across five tranches: $38m in January 2025, $56.8m (March), $46.7m (April), $100.5m (June) and $83.2 million (August).
The funding was finalised under the Biden administration in September 2024, but the Trump administration has maintained disbursement schedules, framing Palisades as a cornerstone of Executive Order 14302, “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base”.
The May 2025 executive order calls for 300 GW of new US nuclear capacity by 2050 and establishes 18-month regulatory timelines for reactor licensing decisions.
Holtec has said it might also use the Palisades site as the location for its first two small modular reactor units, which would potentially add an additional 800 MW of generation capacity.
