The U.S. Department of Energy has released its sixth loan disbursement to Holtec International to help the company restart the Palisades nuclear power plant in Van Buren County.
Holtec spokesperson Nick Culp tells us this latest release, of nearly $156 million, comes as the project remains on track.
“This is our sixth draw on our $1.52 billion loan guarantee from the U .S. Department of Energy,” Culp said. “So far, we’ve drawn about a little more than $500 million on that loan to date, which speaks to the fact that we are being very fiscally responsible with this.”
Culp says the government is signaling it has confidence in the Palisades effort.
“I think it speaks in high degree to not only the importance of the Palisades restart and the quality work that’s being done by our team, but also the central role that nuclear energy has as part of America’s energy agenda.”
Culp says there are now more than 2,000 badged workers on site at Palisades every day to get it ready for a restart. Recent projects have included the deep chemical cleaning of the steam generators and the installation of a more than 180-ton turbine rotor. Soon, he says fuel will start to be delivered.
If all goes well, Culp says Palisades is on track to be back in operation in the fourth quarter of this year.
