Michigan nuclear plant shows the challenges to safely restart old reactors

Cort, Mich. – The nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan aims to make history this fall by becoming the first reactor in the US to restart surgery after closed to eventually dismantled.

The effort to restart the Palisades plant near South Haven, which was closed three years ago, the event is a precedent that could open the way for others withHuttered reactors to get back online.

But Palisades need great repairs to restart safely restart, emphasizing the challenges that the industry will face in the revival of aging.

Palisades began commercial operations in 1971 during the early wave of reactor construction to the United States, the plant permanently stopped operating in 2022, one of a dozen reactors that were closing in recent years, as nuclear energy struggled to compete against cheaper natural gas and renewable sources.

The factory owner, Holtec International, said he was hoping Restart Palisades this fallin accordance with the approval of the Nuclear Regulation Commission. The re -launch project is supported by a loan guarantee of $ 1.5 billion from the Ministry of Energy, $ 1.3 billion from the Ministry of Agriculture and $ 300 million in grants from Michigan.

The Energy Department on Monday has approved the release of almost $ 57 million from the loan, which is a sign that Trump’s administration supports the project in the midst of unrest and uncertainty in Washington due to federal financing of projects started under the Biden administration.

But Holtec faces major repairs to the vapor of Palisades’ vapor generator that could delay the schedule that NRC called demanding. Holtec revealed to the regulators that his inspections found damaged pipes in two facilities generators, which were installed in 1990.

These pipes are key components that protect public health. If the pipe cracks in a nuclear plant, there is a risk that radioactive material will be released into the environment, According to NRC. The owners of the plant must show the NRC that if the pipe fails, any radiological release outside the perimeter of the plant would remain below what the regulator describes as its “conservative boundaries”.

“The NRC is scared to the death of a steam generator pipe. It is a very real accident. It is not hypothetical,” said Alan Blind, who was the director of engineering in Palisades from 2006 to 2013 under the previous owner of Entergy plants. Blind, who is now retired, said he supports nuclear energy, but that he is concerned about the state of the Palisades factory based on a decade of experience in the industry.

Palisades is currently in a safe condition, said NRC spokesman Scott Burnell, since steam generators are not used because the plant is excluded and rejected.

Holtec President Kelly Trice told CNBC that the company made “complete characterization” of the generator and “they are fully repaired”. The company asked the NRC to complete its repair plan until August 15, but federal regulators are skeptical of the company’s schedule.

The head of the NRC Branch Steve Bloom warned Holtec during a public meeting on January 14 that the job needed to review the plan “add a schedule that is already very aggressive”. Eric Reichelt, an older material engineer in the NRC, called the schedule “very demanding”, speaking to Holtec at a meeting that only a few people are available on the regulatory body to perform the necessary audits.

Radioactive water circulating through the reactor and clean water that boils in generators does not come into contact with each other. If the pipe breaks, contaminated water mixes with clean water and radioactive material can be released into the environment through the vapor valves, According to NRC.

Holtec inspections have found more than 1,400 corzia indications that have shot more than 1,000 tubes for Palisades’ vapor generator, the company states submission of application with NRC In October 2024, the pipes failed, said Holtec CEO Krishna Singh in February. Several corrosion shot with more than 70% of penetration, according to the application.

Due to the age of the plant, the vapor steam generator are made of alloy that the industry has since learned prone to cracking corrosion, According to NRC. Holtec said he uses the technique to repair the pipes called the “sleeve” in which they are inserted and expanded better alloy to get damaged.

“The repair techniques we use, called sleeves, have been done in about 10 plants around the world, and in some plants every interruption is done, so this is not a new, exotic technology,” Trice said. “It’s a common repair technique and we expect it to be done on time and according to the schedule.”

Holtec’s repair plan should start this summer after inspection and testing, spokesman Nick Culp told CNBC. Holtec can continue with pipe repair by its schedule, but the company does so at its own risk because the NRC will decide whether the repairs will eventually meet the requirements, Burnell said.

But during the January 14 meeting, NRC chief Bloom Bloom pushed Holtec’s statement that the company repair plan followed the precedent in the industry.

“Although you are quoted, Unquote, following a precedent, this is not exactly, because it is a different material, a different type of sleeve,” Bloom said at a meeting in January. Sleeve design that Holtec suggests for repairs has not been installed earlier in steam generators, although it has been used in other heat exchangers in nuclear plants, According to the company application.

The sleeves are made of alloy that has not shown the signs of cracking in the US or international plants, the application is reported. The component has a duration of no more than 10 years, it is said in the application submitted. Culp said that sleeve testing and analysis “support the expectation of long -term performance.”

Pipe questions ask the question of whether the aging of the vapor generator should replace, the expensive project that previous Palisades owners knew would be needed at some point but never resolved.

Energy consumersFor example, sold a palisades Entergy In 2007 for $ 380 million, partly because of the “significant capital expenditure required for the plant”, including the replacement of the vapor generator, states in the submission of the application with Public Service Commission in Michigan.

Consumer energy assumed that generators need to be replaced in 2016, according to the application submitted. Entregy, however, did not replace them after buying Palisada. It has been determined that the purchase of new generators will make a plant economically impracticable, said Blind, who during that time was the director of engineering in Palisades.

“They felt that they could extend their remaining life with their expertise, which is exactly what they did until they closed it,” Blind said.

Entergy closed Palisades in May 2022 and sold the Holtec plant to take over his dismantling. But the government Michigan Gretchen Whitmer ua Letter to the Ministry of Energy pushed to make the palisade open, stating the jobs supporting the plant and the need for reliable power without carbon. Supported by the Governor’s Office, Holtec She first signed up for federal support restart the palisade two months after it has closed.

On February 15, 2000, operators at the Indian Point 2 were notified that the vapor generator had failed, the NRC report said incident. Consolidated Edison He issued a warning and turned off the plant, the regulator said. She would remain closed for 11 months, while the cause of the crack was explored and analyzed the condition of four steam generators.

Rupture resulted in “smaller radiological liberation of the environment, which was within the regulatory boundaries” NRC Working Group Report. The incident “did not affect public health and security,” the report said. Still, NRC slapped Con Edison with Red quoteThe most serious violation, after determining the leak, was of “great security significance”.

The leakage was contained and there was no evacuation of neighboring communities, but the authorities in Westchester County were deeply concerned about the risk of the public at the time, said Blind, who is a Con Edison Vice President of Nuclear Energy in the Indian point during the incident.

“We contained all radioactive water, but they were so scared that they were very close to closing all schools,” Blind said. “They didn’t want to let the kids come to school in the morning until they saw it all happened. It’s all very serious.”

The leaks turned out to be expensive for Con Edison. The service program replaced four vapor generators on Estimated cost up to $ 150 millionAccording to the company reports from time. The bill would be greater if Con Edison had not already had replacement steam generators. Komunal has owned replacement generators since 1988, but has not installed them. Con Edison also paid more than $ 130 million in cost-related costs in the plant.

Blind said that Con Edison decided to replace the steam generators at an Indian point to reduce the risk of appearing another pipe cracking when the plant is starting.

“We were a public trading company,” Blind said. “And it collapsed from the board, it was said that we could not live with this uncertainty.”

Utility Sold the Indian points of the unit 1 and 2 Entergy For $ 502 million in 2001 under an agreement that also included the property of a gas turbine. The sale was considered before the pipe burst. Con Edison estimated a loss after taxation of $ 170 million from Indian sales, According to the applications from time.

Blind said that the role of planned Palisades is a re -launching high for the entire nuclear industry. Demand for nuclear energy is growing again in the US because the states, utilities and the technological sector seek a more reliable power without carbon. Renewed interest is called “nuclear renaissance” after years of exclusion of reactor in the USA

Confidential energyfor example, plans to restart his Three miles island Posada 2028, provided by the approval of the NRC. The constellation said that the vapor generators in the plant have undergone inspection and maintenance and that they are in good condition. Nexter Energy announced in July 2024 to evaluate whether restarting Duane Arnold plant In Iowa it is feasible.

The Palisades incident “would be devastating for the whole industry,” Blind said. “There would be a call to review this Renaissance idea,” he said.

Holtecov Culp said that the sleeves used to repair the vapor generator on Palisades will continuously monitor, examine and undergo regulatory supervision while in service. The plant employs several layers of defense “to protect our workforce, community and the environment,” he said.

The NRC inspectors will notice Holtec’s repair activities while being carried out and will ensure that the vapor generators meet all requirements for safe work, Burnell said. “This includes ensuring that the public and the environment are protected from radiological problems,” said NRC spokesman.