The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission has granted permission to Holtec International, owner of the Palisades nuclear reactor, to retrieve a potentially compromised fuel assembly, although the plant received a warning about its work environment.
On August 30, as new fuel was being lowered into the reactor, one of the fuel assemblies tipped, causing the plant's planned restart to be placed on hold.
If Holtec successfully retrieves the fuel assembly, efforts to restart the plant are likely to move forward with NRC oversight.
The Palisades reactor, bought by Holtec after it was decommissioned in 2022, has become a poster child for the US nuclear energy renaissance driven by artificial intelligence data centres.
The NRC said no radiation was released during the August 30 incident at the reactor, in Covert, Michigan.
Amid the controversy, the NRC sent a letter to Holtec following an inspection that determined that although Palisades maintained a safety-conscious work environment overall, “a chilled work environment” existed in the supply chain and quality assurance departments.
The NRC explained: “Employees in these two work departments are hesitant to raise safety concerns using all available avenues without fear of retaliation.”
Patrick O’Brien, Holtec director of government affairs and communications, said the company was “taking actions to address these issues and will continue our work to maintain and strengthen a healthy safety-conscious work environment”.
But the response to the NRC findings has failed to calm fears among those concerned about the plant's work environment and the restarting of “zombie reactors”.
“Holtec's unprecedented restart of the Palisades zombie reactor will risk a Chernobyl or Fukushima-scale catastrophe a hundred yards from the shoreline of the Great Lakes, drinking water supply for more than 40 million people in eight US states, two Canadian provinces and a large number of Indigenous Nations,” said Kevin Kamps, executive director for environmental advocacy group Don't Waste Michigan.
Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer and expert adviser for the organisation, called the NRC's decision to approve Holtec's strategy for retrieving the tipped fuel assembly “ironic”.
“In the last four weeks, Palisades lost control and tipped a nuclear fuel bundle and couldn’t get it out, nine out of 15 licensed reactor operators failed their exam, and more than half of the people in their quality assurance and procurement departments feel they will be fired by management if they bring concerns forward,” he said, and yet “ironically … the NRC just gave them permission to begin loading fuel again!”
He added that the subsequent report from the NRC indicated that the “fuel assembly exhibits significant bowing”.
In a statement to The National, a spokesperson for the NRC reiterated that the findings related to a chilled work environment were limited to the Palisades “supply chain and quality assurance departments”, adding that the government agency “did not identify any violations or significant plant safety issues but has concerns about the work environment's impact on these departments.”
That spokesperson also said that the NRC will “continue to verify that safety requirements are met”.
As for approving Holtec’s method of retrieving the tipped fuel assembly, the NRC indicated that its “specialists and resident inspectors will continue monitoring removal activities.”
In a statement, however, Holtec said that it appreciated the government agency's decision. “The proposed recovery approach was supported by engineering evaluations addressing structural integrity, fuel handling, thermal conditions, and radiation protection,” Holtec said.
A source close to Holtec recently told The National that the company hoped to have Palisades back online by March 2027. Holtec has yet to provide a timeline.
“Palisades will return to service when all required work is complete and all federal requirements and industry standards are met,” Mr O'Brien said. “Our team of more than 1,000 nuclear professionals continues this work in parallel with the fuel assembly recovery effort.”
Before shutting down 2022, the Palisades reactor was no stranger to controversy.
In 2012, an NRC report warned about the work culture at the plant, where it said safety concerns were often dismissed.
In 2016, security staff were placed on leave from the plant, which was then owned by Entergy, for failing to properly follow fire prevention protocol.
In October 2025, a worker at Palisades fell off a refuelling bridge into a pool of water, but was not seriously injured.
