Now that the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township has completed its final refueling and maintenance outage and plans continue for the plant to permanently cease operations in the spring of 2022, the The Van Buren County Board of Commissioners has announced the formation a Palisades Community Advisory Panel (CAP) to provide for open communication, public involvement, and education on the future decommissioning of the plant in Covert Township.
Entergy, the company that owns and operates Palisades, has also announced the transfer of plant ownership after permanent shutdown in 2022 to the company Holtec International for purposes of decommissioning, pending federal approval of that transaction.
Commission Chair Richard Godfrey says, “Palisades has been a part of this community for nearly 50 years. The benefits of the plant and its talented workforce cannot easily be overstated,” and adds, “The County has taken prudent actions to prepare for a 2022 shutdown, but the fact remains that the work at Palisades will be far from over once the plant ceases operation. With the plant recently completing its final refueling outage, its shutdown and decommissioning will become of increased public interest. This is also true for the post-closure sale of the plant in hopes of safe, accelerated decommissioning leading to future site reuse. The Board of Commissioners recognizes this desire for information, which is why we are announcing the creation of a public panel to educate and advise on post-closure activities.”
The Board of Commissioners stated that members of the Palisades Community Advisory Panel (CAP) will represent diverse interests, backgrounds, and areas of professional expertise including:
- State, tribal, and local units of government
- Public health
- Education
- The environment
- Emergency preparedness
- Labor
- Business
- Local units of taxation
- The general public
- Plant owners
The Board of Commissioners is expected to announce details on the panel early in the new year.
The decommissioning of Palisades will begin following the plant’s closure and reactor defueling in 2022 under continued regulation of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). Under federal law, Palisades must be decommissioned by safely removing the unit from service and reducing residual radioactivity to a level that permits release of the property for unrestricted reuse.
Per the NRC, the federal government has strict rules governing nuclear power plant decommissioning, involving cleanup of radioactively contaminated plant systems and structures, and removal of the plant’s spent fuel. These federal requirements protect workers and the public during the entire decommissioning process and once completed. By federal law, the decommissioning of a nuclear plant must be completed within 60 years of permanently ceasing operations.
The photo of the Palisades Power Plant accompanying this story on Moody on the Market is courtesy of South Haven Professional Photographer Tom Renner.
