Holtec, the company that is rebuilding and reopening the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant at Covert is casting the Palisades Small Modular Reactor project as a new model for the next generation of nuclear power all over the World. A big order for a nuclear site that was previously judged to be outmoded and inefficient, and was eventually shut down.
After a ceremonial signing Tuesday involving Holtec and Hyundai, Holtec put out a detailed statement, in fhe form of a complete update on the two-part Palisades project: First the modernization and restart of the 800 megawatt Palisades reactor, shut down, presumably forever in 2022. And second, the addition of the ‘first-anywhere’ twin 300 megawatt Small Modular Reactors (SMR’s) that will operate alongside the renewed Palisades reactor at the Covert site beginning in 2030, according to Holtec’s estimates.
Here are key portions of the Holtec-authored update, the most complete account we’ve seen so far about the planned future of nuclear power generation at the Palisades site.
_________________________________________
Holtec has launched “Mission 2030,” a program to build America’s first small modular reactors – Holtec’s SMR-300 – at the Palisades site in Covert Township, Michigan, with a target of 2030 for first commercial operation. The new SMR-300s will be co-located with the existing 800-megawatt Palisades plant, which is on track to restart after an extended outage following shutdown in 2022. Together, the historic plant restart and addition of two SMR-300s make Southwest Michigan ground zero for America’s nuclear renaissance. In the SMR launch ceremony held at the Palisades site today, significant milestones in Holtec’s site preparation work for the SMR-300s was spotlighted and included signing of an expanded alliance agreement with Hyundai Engineering & Construction to build a 10-gigawatt fleet of SMR-300s in North America through the 2030s, beginning with the landmark Palisades SMR project.
Since announcing the Palisades SMR-300 project in 2023, Holtec has made substantial progress, including detailed site and environmental studies to choose a location for the plant within the Palisades property, establishment of a groundwater monitoring program, and completion of soil borings. Holtec has invested over $50 million USD to date in the SMR-300 site development and environmental activities, keeping our schedule to start the formal U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission construction permitting process early next year. Alongside site preparation work, Holtec has been intently engaged in public and government outreach on the project. The SMR-300 initiative has been met with overwhelming backing from community leaders and local, state, and federal government stakeholders, reinforcing the strong support already behind the Palisades restart project. The SMR project will help meet growing demand for reliable, clean energy, while also creating hundreds of permanent high-paying jobs, bolstering American manufacturing, and growing the regional tax base. These efforts are poised to generate significant reverberating economic impacts in the surrounding community, furthering the region’s long-term prosperity and energy security.
In preparation for construction of the Palisades SMR-300 plant, Holtec today signed an expanded cooperation agreement with Hyundai E&C for SMR-300 construction, expanding prior collaboration forged in 2021. The exclusive partnership will enable rapid scaling of the SMR-300 program based on learnings from the first-of-a-kind SMR-300 project at Palisades. Holtec’s President of Global Clean Energy Opportunities, Dr. Rick Springman, commented, “The key to making SMR deployment faster and more cost-effective isn’t just learning from the industry—it’s applying those lessons directly to each new project. With Holtec’s in-house manufacturing and Hyundai E&C as our construction partner, we control most of the process, allowing us to refine and improve with every reactor we build. That’s how we scale smarter and deliver reliable energy where it’s needed most.”
Holtec’s SMR-300 is an advanced, passively safe, pressurized light water nuclear power plant, each unit designed to produce 300 megawatts of clean, reliable energy – enough to power 300,000 homes. As an advanced Generation 3+ reactor, it uses gravity as the motive force to run its safety systems earning the “walk-away safe” designation. With the ability to build SMR-300 plants, service them throughout their operational life, safely manage the spent fuel, and decommissioning them at the end of life, Holtec – an American company with an international footprint – is uniquely positioned to compete in the world market against state-backed reactor vendors. The Palisades SMR-300 project will serve as the global reference point for deploying this next-generation nuclear technology, unlocking opportunities worldwide and advancing U.S. leadership in clean energy innovation.
_______________________________________
Editor’s Note: This update is from Holtec’s point of view. It does not take into consideration many criticisms and concerns about nuclear power on environmental, health and safety grounds. However, in recent years many traditional critics of nuclear power are taking another look at it as the concept of Small Modular Reactors is being put forward as the industry’s future.
