Palisades nuclear plant could restart by the end of November, Energy Secretary Chris Wright says on a Southwest Michigan visit

COVERT TOWNSHIP — The Palisades nuclear plant on Lake Michigan could be making electricity again within weeks, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Thursday during a visit to the Van Buren County plant.

“This plant will restart this year, I hope by the end of next month,” Wright said, according to WWMT-TV. “We hope at the end in November, but it is very close.”

Holtec International, which owns Palisades, said fuel loading is complete and crews are working through required testing, inspections and readiness work. The company did not give a date. Palisades will resume operations “when all required work is complete and all applicable U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) requirements and industry standards are met,” Holtec said.

Palisades would be the first decommissioned plant in the nation to come back online, WWMT reported. Holtec says the restart will bring back about 805 megawatts of around-the-clock power and preserve hundreds of jobs in Southwest Michigan. Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy have signed long-term agreements to buy the plant’s power.

Back on track after August

Refueling paused in August when an upright fuel assembly tilted while crews were loading fuel into the reactor, according to Holtec, as reported by WWMT. Holtec says the issue has been resolved. “You have to be very careful for safety in Michigan, and with nuclear in general,” Wright said. “It’s just very careful, meticulous work.”

Who came, and who pays

Wright toured the plant with U.S. Rep. Bill Huizenga, USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Glen Smith, Gregory Beard of the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Dominance Financing and Holtec CEO Kris Singh, then spoke to plant workers, Holtec said. The restart is backed by a federal Energy Department loan, money from the state of Michigan and Holtec’s own investment.

“Palisades is arguably the most famous nuclear plant in the world. We feel the weight of the world on our shoulders,” Singh said in the company’s release.

Huizenga said expanding nuclear power is a mission of the Trump administration. “They have been a great partner, they saw the vision, understood that this was going to be beneficial to the United States and Michigan and to all of us as we’re fighting to make that there’s affordable energy,” he said, according to WWMT.

Wright said President Donald Trump’s executive order on reinvigorating the nuclear industrial base directs his department to help bring five gigawatts of power from reactors that are already built. “It’s all about energy addition,” he said. “Five gigawatts would power about four million homes.” Similar restart projects are underway at the Crane plant in Pennsylvania and the Duane Arnold Energy Center in Iowa, WWMT reported.

Sources:
Holtec International, “U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright Visits Palisades, Recognizes Progress Toward Historic Nuclear Restart,” Oct. 29, 2026 (attendees, 805 MW, financing, power buyers, fuel loading complete, NRC condition, Singh quote), https://holtecinternational.com/hh-41-25/
WWMT, Palisades restart and Wright visit, Oct. 29, 2026 (Wright and Huizenga quotes, first decommissioned plant to return, August fuel assembly issue resolved, executive order, other restarts), https://wwmt.com/news/local/palisades-nuclear-power-plant-restart-2026-holtec-international-van-buren-county-covert-township-us-secretary-energy-chris-wright-us-representative-bill-huizenga
Photo: U.S. Department of Energy, “HD.6B.286 (11842464603).jpg,” Wikimedia Commons, public domain, cropped, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:HD.6B.286_(11842464603).jpg

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Tags: Palisades · Nuclear Power · Holtec · Chris Wright · Bill Huizenga · Southwest Michigan