nuclear regulatory commission

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has begun reviewing a proposal to build two new small modular reactors at the Palisades nuclear plant complex in Van Buren County.

A federal district judge dismissed the case, ruling that only a U.S. Court of Appeals can review the sort of decisions in question at the west Michigan nuclear power plant.

Holtec International is trying to bring the Palisades nuclear energy plant back online, but first it has to prove to regulators that welding work done at the plant was done correctly.

Holtec International initially planned to restart the reactor by the end of last year.

The lawsuit accuses the Nuclear Regulatory Commission of violating the law when it granted an exemption to allow Palisades to return to operating status.

A person fell into the nuclear reactor cavity at the Palisades plant in Southwest Michigan on Tuesday. They were taken for a medical evaluation and have returned to work.

Operating status means the plant is allowed to receive new nuclear fuel. It is not yet generating power. It is the first nuclear plant in the U.S. to ever return to operations after going into decommissioning status.

Operators can now load fuel into the Palisades Nuclear Plant's reactor, though its owner still needs to pass more regulatory hurdles before it can come back online.

The owner of a shut-down nuclear power plant in southwest Michigan could try to bring it back online by the end of the year.

Holtec International has reported spending millions from its decommissioning trust fund for the nuclear plant on Lake Michigan. But decommissioning is no longer the plan.