U.S. NRC Expedites Review of License Amendment for Palisades Nuclear Plant Fuel Loading Tilt Incident: Advancing Vanguard SMR Construction Permit Review in Parallel

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is reviewing an emergency operating license amendment request (LAR) submitted by Holtec International. The request was triggered by a nuclear fuel loading tilt incident at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant (Palisades NPP) in Covert, Michigan, during its restart process, which has resulted in the temporary suspension of some on-site restart recovery operations. According to the application documents publicly available in the NRC's public records system, fuel assembly number DD41 tilted after being released by the fuel handling machine. The lower nozzle of the assembly remains in the core grid position H-1, but the upper portion forms an approximately 30-degree tilt angle with the core plate...

2026-10-09

Palisades Nuclear Power Plant Restart Suspended Due to Fuel Assembly Issue

The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township, Michigan, encountered a problem during fuel loading operations, causing its ongoing restart process to be suspended. The 50-year-old nuclear power plant, located along the shore of Lake Michigan, had previously been planned to become the first decommissioned nuclear power plant in the United States to be restarted. Holtec, the operator of the nuclear power plant, confirmed that while loading radioactive fuel rods into the reactor, a fuel assembly unexpectedly tilted after being released by the handling device and became stuck in a non-vertical position. Due to this situation, the reactor is currently...

2026-09-23

Fuel Loading Begins at U.S. Palisades Nuclear Plant to Advance Restart

Holtec Nuclear announced on August 31 that fuel loading has begun into the reactor pressure vessel at the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert Township, Michigan, U.S. This milestone marks a critical step toward restoring operation at the permanently shut down commercial nuclear plant, advancing the restart process into Mode 6, the refueling mode, under the plant's technical specifications. The Palisades reactor core consists of 204 fuel assemblies, including new fuel and partially used fuel remaining from the plant's previous operating cycle. The core is designed to support the plant's 805 MW electrical output. Holtec...

2026-09-01