Fuel Problem Pauses Plan to Restart Michigan Nuclear Reactor
COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- The pause at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, a historic restart there is now on hold.
The 50-year-old power plant on the shore of Lake Michigan is set to become the first "decommissioned" nuclear reactor in the nation to be restarted.
Right now, the installation of radioactive fuel used to make electricity there is temporarily stopped.
Holtec admits the trouble started shortly after crews began putting new radioactive fuel into the reactor vessel itself in late August.
This piece of machinery is what apparently caused the problem, it's called a fuel assembly handler.
The fuel assemblies gently lower the fuel into the reactor but one of them wound up tilted according to the company.
Now the fueling process is on hold while engineers figure out how to safely retrieve the tilted fuel assembly, but Holtec officials want everyone to know there was no radiation leak, no danger to workers or the public because of the incident.
But anti-nuclear activists are voicing their concerns, “Well, we just learned yesterday, I believe, kind of by a fluke, that Holtec has had yet another very safety critical incident at Palisades. During the refueling operation” said Executive Director of Don't Waste Michigan, Kevin Kamps “And the significance of this is that the reactor core and the nuclear fuel is the most dangerous part of a nuclear power plant.”
Sr. Manager, Government Affairs and Communications Holtec Palisades Nick Culp gave a statement to ABC57 saying “the nuclear industry operates under rigorous standards and independent federal oversight. Safety is our highest priority, and when issues arise, they are evaluated, understood, and addressed, with appropriate verification before affected activities proceed."
Holtec states that they are following protocol and safety measures, and ABC57 is also told by a Covert Township official that they stand firm and support the repowering of Palisades as long as it is done in a safe manner.
If it needs to pause at any given time, then Covert Township sees Palisades as doing its due diligence.