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US loan disbursements for recommissioning Michigan nuclear plant exceed $83 million

The Trump administration announced on Thursday that it had issued a fifth loan guarantee to Holtec International for its Michigan nuclear plant. Holtec International hopes this will be the United States' first reactor to restart following a shutdown.

The Department of Energy has announced that it has disbursed over $83 million of a maximum loan guarantee of up to $1.52billion for the 800 megawatt Palisades nuclear reactor.

Former President Joe Biden’s Loan Programs Office initiated the conditional loan guarantee to support nuclear power, which produces virtually emission-free electricity, and to help satisfy increasing electricity demand from artificial intelligence and data centers.

Constellation Energy has announced that it will reopen Three Mile Island, the Pennsylvania nuclear power plant where a partial meltdown occurred in 1979. This event shook the nuclear industry. Constellation announced in June that it could restart the plant in 2027 - about a year earlier than originally planned.

Entergy, a power company, closed Palisades after more than 50 years of operation in 2022. The plant shut down two weeks earlier than planned due to a problem with a control bar, despite the $6 billion federal program designed to save reactors from increasing costs.

In May, U.S. president Donald Trump issued executive orders to speed up the issuance of new nuclear licenses and to overhaul the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that issues them. Last month, the NRC approved Holtec’s request to load reactor fuel. The NRC stated that there were still several licensing issues under review, and certain requirements to be met in order for Palisades to restart under its original operating license which expires 2031.

Holtec has repaired steam generators in Palisades, as the plant shut down without following the normal procedure to maintain the units.

Holtec, who said in March that it wanted to restart its plant in the fourth-quarter of 2025, didn't immediately reply to a question about whether this timing is still valid. (Reporting and Editing by Marguerita Chy)

(source: Reuters)