US disburses nearly $156 million in financing for Michigan reactor restart

By Timothy Gardner

WASHINGTON, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The U.S. Energy Department said on Tuesday it has disbursed a nearly $156 million installment of a loan guarantee for Holtec International's Michigan nuclear power plant, which the company hopes will be the first U.S. reactor to restart after shuttering.

With the sixth installment of the financing by the Loan Programs Office of the Department of Energy, the U.S. has now disbursed a total of about $491 million of the up to $1.52 billion loan guarantee that was approved during former President Joe Biden's term.

Energy Secretary Chris Wright said under President Donald Trump the U.S. is taking "unprecedented steps to bring about the next American nuclear renaissance." Trump supports nuclear power as U.S. power demand rises for the first time in two decades due to demand from data centers and artificial intelligence.

Trump signed executive orders in May to fast-track new nuclear power licenses, and overhaul the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which issues them. The NRC approved Holtec's request to load fuel into the reactor in July.

Holtec reiterated on Tuesday that it plans to restart Palisades in the fourth quarter of the year.

Power company Entergy ETR.N closed the 800 megawatt Palisades reactor in 2022, after it operated for more than 50 years. It shut two weeks ahead of schedule over a glitch with a control rod, despite a $6 billion federal program to save reactors suffering from rising costs.

Opponents of the move to restart Palisades have criticized safety of the steam generator tubes there. They say the tubes are degraded because standard maintenance procedures were not followed when the plant went into shutdown. Steam generators are sensitive components that require meticulous maintenance and are among the most expensive units at a nuclear power station.

Holtec says it is repairing the tubes with sleeving, and the NRC approved an environmental review of the restart in May.