Palisades Restart Stalls 4 Years After 2022 Shutdown as Corrosion and Leaks Delay Power
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 27
Palisades Restart Stalls 4 Years After 2022 Shutdown as Corrosion and Leaks Delay Power
1 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 27
Summary
Four years after Holtec began trying to revive Palisades, the Michigan reactor still is not generating electricity, missing the roughly two-year timeline the company initially envisioned.
Extensive corrosion in steam-producing equipment has driven some of the biggest setbacks, while supply-chain snags, a leaking underground water line and replacement valves added further delays.
The project is testing a first-of-its-kind U.S. effort to restart a shuttered commercial reactor after Palisades, which opened in 1971, was closed in 2022.
Palisades' troubles underscore a broader nuclear challenge: the United States has built only 2 new reactors in the past decade, and those arrived 7 years late at more than double planned cost.