Project will see first restart in the US of a commercial reactor that has been shut down
The US Department of Energy approved a loan disbursement of nearly $57m (€52m) on 17 March to help restart the Palisades nuclear power station in Michigan, marking the Trump administration’s first significant financial commitment to the country’s nuclear revival effort.
“Unleashing American energy dominance will require leveraging all energy sources that are affordable, reliable and secure - including nuclear energy,” said energy secretary Chris Wright. “Today’s action is yet another step toward advancing president Trump’s commitment to increase domestic energy production, bolster our security and lower costs for the American people.”
The DOE said Palisades, on the shores of Lake Michigan, will be the US’s first restart of a commercial nuclear reactor that had been shut down, but noted the move is subject to US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) licensing approvals. Moves to restart the plant began under the Biden administration.
The $57m is the second disbursement of funds from the DOE for Holtec, which bought Palisades from previous owner Entergy in 2022. In September 2024, the DOE announced a $1.5bn financial loan for the restart project. The funds will go towards the restart and also to ensuring the plant is NRC compliant.
New Jersey-based 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.
The single-unit 805-MW pressurised water reactor unit at Palisades ceased operations in May 2022. It will be brought back online and upgraded to produce power until at least 2051.
In addition to the main 805 MW reactor, Holtec intends to 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.
