Palisades is Holtec's single-unit ~800 MW PWR on Lake Michigan, retired in May 2022 and set to become the first US reactor returned to service after entering decommissioning. Fuel loading began on 30 August 2026 but is paused after a fuel assembly tilted; the NRC is reviewing Holtec's request to retrieve it.
Background: Palisades fuel loading: Holtec restart timeline and what comes next · NRC reactor licensing process, explained
Current state
| Status | Fuel load |
| Country | United States |
| Location | Covert Township, Michigan |
| Plant | Palisades |
| Operator | Holtec International (Palisades Energy LLC) |
| Reactor type | PWR |
| Net capacity (MWe) | 805 |
| Restart type | Retired-plant restart |
| Shut down | 2022-05-20 |
| Restart target | 2026 |
| Years offline | 4.4 |
| Regulator | NRC reauthorised power-operations licensing basis (July 2025); plant returned to operational licensing status Aug 2025; LAR to retrieve tilted fuel assembly filed 2026-09-30, under NRC review |
| Offtaker | Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy (long-term PPAs, roughly half the output each) |
| Public funding | DOE loan up to $1.52bn (closed Sept 2024); USDA New ERA awards of ~$1.3bn to Wolverine and Hoosier for the PPAs; $300m Michigan state funding |
Notes
Status "Fuel load" is approximate: loading of the 204-assembly core began 30 Aug 2026 and is paused (Holtec, 21 Sept 2026). restart target '2026' reflects CEO Kris Singh's July 2026 statement (via ANS/FT) and is at risk; earlier targets (Oct 2025, Feb-Mar 2026) slipped. Capacity: WNN 805 MWe; DOE '800-MW'. Holtec plans a subsequent licence renewal to 2051.
Timeline
- 2022-05-20 — Entergy removed Palisades from service after 50 years; it was defuelled by 10 June. (source)
- 2024-09 — DOE closed a loan of up to $1.52bn to Holtec Palisades. (source)
- 2025-08 — Palisades formally returned to operational status a month after NRC approved the licensing package. (source)
- 2026-08-30 — Palisades entered Mode 6 and began loading fuel into the reactor vessel. (source)
- 2026-09-11 — Palisades reconnected to its 345-kV switchyard. (source)
- 2026-09-30 — Holtec asked the NRC for permission to use custom equipment to move a tilted fuel assembly to the spent fuel pool. (source)
The timeline is append-only: corrections are added as new entries. Stated targets appear in the current-state table, never as milestones.
Also tracked
- Palisades Nuclear Plant in the Nuclear Decommissioning Tracker Restart planned
NNN coverage
About Holtec International
- Holtec files Palisades SMR safety report with NRC 2026-10-03
- Analysts size Africa's SMR market at $105B, 15 GW by 2035 2026-09-07
- Palisades fuel loading: Holtec restart timeline and what comes next 2026-09-01
- The nuclear decommissioning market in 2026: size, players, pipeline 2026-07-14
- NRC opens environmental review of Holtec's Palisades new-build 2026-06-17
- The 7 nuclear stories that mattered this week 2026-10-03
About Palisades Nuclear Plant
- Fuel assembly incident pauses Palisades loading 2026-09-26
- The 8 nuclear stories that mattered this week 2026-09-05
- NRC finds two Green radiation-safety lapses during Palisades restart 2026-09-05
- The 8 nuclear stories that mattered this week 2026-09-26
- USDA opens $175M rural co-op fund to buy, build, or restart nuclear 2026-09-19
- The 6 nuclear stories that mattered this week 2026-09-12
Related units
- Browns Ferry Unit 1 Restarted · United States
- Bruce A Unit 1 Restarted · Canada
- Bruce A Unit 2 Restarted · Canada
- Crane Clean Energy Center (Three Mile Island Unit 1) Refurbishment · United States
- Duane Arnold Energy Center Under review · United States
- Indian Point Unit 2 Proposed · United States
- Indian Point Unit 3 Proposed · United States
See all 45 units in the Nuclear Plant Restarts Tracker →
Sources
- Fuel loading under way for Palisades restart, Holtec announces — World Nuclear News, checked 2026-10-11
- Progress Report on Palisades' March to Startup — Holtec International (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Palisades (EDF project) — U.S. Department of Energy (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- Palisades Nuclear Plant Returns To Operational Status And Ready To Receive Fuel — NucNet, checked 2026-10-11
- Wolverine, Hoosier Awarded $1.3 Billion to Aid Nuclear Plant Restart — NRECA (electric.coop), checked 2026-10-11
- Palisades: Restart projects, Holtec IPO, lawsuit dismissal—but no restart date — American Nuclear Society, checked 2026-10-11
- NRC Reviewing Palisades License Amendment Request, Public Comment Opportunity Open — U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (primary), checked 2026-10-11
- A Nuclear Shift Buoyed by Billions, and the Waters of the Great Lakes — Circle of Blue, checked 2026-10-11