Palisades Nuclear Plant

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said the violations were of "very low safety significance" but the company said it's taking the problem seriously.

This latest step brings the Southwest Michigan nuclear power plant one step closer to a historic restart.

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.

Holtec Internation had been saying it planned to resume generating power by the end of 2025. That timeline has now shifted to the start of the new year.

The report concludes that without “robust governance frameworks” in place, next-generation nuclear is likely to reinforce or even create problems that technology alone can’t fix.

The federal government is putting up to $400 million toward building small nuclear reactors on the Lake Michigan shore. Holtec International will build the reactors at the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Southwest Michigan.

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