Palisades began loading fuel on 30 August, then paused after one assembly tilted. On 13 October the NRC approved the recovery plan and reported a chilled work environment in two Holtec departments. It does not expect that finding to affect the restart.
Palisades has not restarted. Holtec said it began loading fuel on 30 August, and more than seven weeks later the plant was still not running. Holtec calls it the first commercial reactor in the United States to be repowered after permanent shutdown.
One tilted fuel assembly remains the open item on the way to restart. The NRC issued a separate finding about culture inside two Holtec departments on 13 October and says it is not expected to affect the restart. Data centre demand reaches Holtec through its postponed share offering, not through the plant.
The assembly tilted during loading. Holtec said on 21 September that the load remained paused. In a 21 September update, it said one assembly had tilted from its upright position after placement. The fuel handling machine grapple had been disengaged, and the NRC was notified. The core holds 204 assemblies, so the fault involves 0.5% of the fuel.
Holtec said its staff evaluated the incident and found that it did not trigger NRC safety reporting requirements. A root cause evaluation had begun to identify the cause and corrective actions. Holtec was also designing special equipment to retrieve the assembly and return it to the spent fuel pool.
The fix needed an NRC licence amendment, which Holtec filed on 30 September. The request asked to use custom equipment and procedures to move the tilted assembly. On 6 October the NRC opened it to public comment and said it had verified that the fuel rods remained intact and safe.
The NRC approved the fix on 13 October, 13 days after the filing. The approval found that the work can be carried out safely and in compliance with its regulations. The comment period had opened on day six.
The same day, the NRC found a chilled work environment inside Holtec. It found during an inspection the problem in Holtec's Supply Chain and Quality Assurance departments at Palisades. The finding is limited to those departments and "does not involve any violations or significant plant safety issues".
The NRC treats the finding as separate from the restart. It said existing measures adequately protect plant safety and that, "based on current information, the findings are not expected to affect the planned restart".
Holtec must share the findings with employees and commission an independent evaluation. It must also submit a corrective action plan within 30 days, which makes the deadline 12 November. The NRC will review the plan and continue inspecting.
Other restart work continues in parallel, including the grid link. Holtec reconnected the switchyard to the 345 kV system on 11 September. ITC, which owns and operates the high voltage transmission system serving Palisades, coordinated the restoration. Holtec said final commissioning and testing were continuing to restore full switchyard functionality.
The assembly still controls the next steps. It was still in the core in Holtec's 21 September update. Holtec's newsroom showed nothing newer than 30 September on 21 October, and no report of its removal had appeared.
Holtec has said the amendment's 10 day implementation period is not a deadline for recovering the assembly. WNDU reported on 20 October that the period covers adding the amendment to the plant's licensing basis.
The assembly also controls the later operating modes. Holtec said progression remains subject to resolving the assembly, completing required testing and modifications, and receiving applicable NRC approvals. After fuel loading and reassembly of the reactor vessel comes Mode 5, or cold shutdown, in which the reactor is shut down and its coolant is kept at low temperature and pressure.
Palisades' power is contracted to two cooperatives. Holtec's fuel loading post lists long term power purchase agreements with Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy. It also lists State of Michigan support and a substantial loan from the US Department of Energy. The plant is rated at 805 MW electric.
Data centre demand reaches Holtec through the equity market. Holtec launched an IPO on 8 September for 50,000,000 shares and postponed it on 17 September. It cited an "unusual confluence of developments that has impaired investor confidence" and blamed a "perfect storm of adverse developments, driven primarily by uncertainty over data center development".
That is Holtec's own explanation for the pulled offering. The same release lists older headwinds: rising energy costs, trade tensions, military conflicts and inflation fears. Holtec says those fears pushed the central banks of the EU, Japan and the US to raise rates. It also said it would continue "the restart of Palisades".
The connection is financial. Holtec says doubt about data centre demand hurt investor appetite for nuclear companies. That matters to a company that planned to sell shares while it still had a restart to finish.
Holtec also has a second nuclear project at the same site. On 30 September it submitted a safety analysis report to the NRC. It covers two planned SMR-300 small modular reactors at Palisades, together 680 MW.
The data centre deals this month concern running plants, and their new megawatts arrive later. On 6 October Constellation and Google announced a 20 year agreement for 890 MW of new capacity at 11 units. The money pays for new equipment and technology at those units, raising their efficiency. The release puts new investment above $4.3bn and the first uprate by 2028. A separate 15 year agreement in that release covers 2,700 MW of existing supply.
Palisades is close to the size of the whole Google package. Google's 890 MW across 11 units is about 81 MW each, while Palisades is rated at 805 MW. Constellation's release gives no Palisades cost to set against the $4.3bn.
Amazon's deal is also late. On 30 September Constellation and Amazon announced a 20 year agreement adding about 190 MW at Calvert Cliffs between 2030 and 2032. Palisades, rated at 805 MW, began loading fuel on 30 August.
The NRC should have Holtec's corrective action plan by 12 November and does not expect the finding to move the restart date. The date moves when Holtec reports the tilted assembly out of the core. It moves again when the 204-assembly load is complete, because Mode 5 cannot come before either.