NRC Orders Holtec to Address Safety Fears at Palisades

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a formal warning to Holtec International, identifying a chilled work environment at the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan as a primary obstacle to the facility's restart. The agency found that employees at the site are reluctant to raise safety concerns due to a fear of retaliation from management.

The regulatory scrutiny began in July when the NRC conducted an inspection focused on safety awareness. This review followed two specific safety incidents that occurred over the past year. In the first incident, a contractor fell into the reactor cavity and swallowed water. Although the worker received decontamination and off-site medical care, an incident report noted that 300 counts per minute of radiation remained in their hair.

A second incident took place in August during a refueling operation. A bundle of nuclear fuel rods tilted over, causing a delay in the schedule. This delay pushed back what was expected to be the first restart of a closed nuclear reactor in the United States.

Personnel performance also drew regulatory attention. The NRC reported that nine of the 15 reactor operators failed the initial license examination administered between July and August. Only six individuals received operator licenses during that period. The commission instructed Holtec to address the cultural issues that contributed to these outcomes.

Holtec International has no prior experience operating a nuclear power plant. The company has secured approximately $2.2 billion in government support for the Palisades project. The restart has been promoted as a central symbol of the domestic nuclear industry's revival under the current administration.

Critics of the restart effort argue that financial and political pressure to revitalize nuclear power could increase the likelihood of accidents. They point to the current regulatory warning as evidence of these risks. The pressure is driven by surging energy demand linked to artificial intelligence infrastructure.

The Palisades project is part of a wider trend of restarting shuttered facilities. Owners of the Three Mile Island plant in Pennsylvania and the Duane Arnold plant in Iowa announced restart plans soon after work began at Palisades. Both sites are currently slated for decommissioning.