Should Palisades Nuclear Plant Be Brought Back to Life?

A shuttered and contaminated nuclear site on Lake Michigan's shores has begun receiving significant funding to bring it back to life. There is a large amount of radioactive waste stored in the facility. If it reopens, more dangerous and long-lasting pollution will be produced and stored incredibly close to one of our Great Lakes. Sounds foolish, right? 

To be clear, we're talking about the Palisades Nuclear Plant in South Haven, Michigan. Since its opening on New Year's Eve in 1971, serious problems have plagued the plant. Just 13 months after opening, Palisades experienced its first radioactive leak, prompting authorities to shut it down for over a year.

Since that first disaster, the plant continued to be troubled by controversy and misfortune. By 2012, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission declared Palisades the worst-performing reactor in the nation. After 50 years, the plant was finally scheduled for closure, but even this didn't go according to plan; the facility had to shut down a week and a half early due to an essential control rod failure, marking a fitting conclusion for an unreliable and erratic facility.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the end for Palisades. A few months after its early closure, Holtec International, which acquired the shuttered plant in June of 2022, applied for federal funds to revive the dangerous plant. 

While initially denied in November, just a few weeks ago, the Biden administration approved a $1.5 billion (yes, we said BILLION) loan, enabling the reopening of the 800 MW facility and constructing two additional 300 MW reactors. Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has publicly supported these efforts. In her administration's 2025 FY budget proposal, she earmarked $150 million for Palisades' reopening after already committing another $150 million in the previous budget.

There are more effective and equitable ways to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in Michigan. Our state could harness solar and wind energy to power our grid and invest in energy efficiency for homes and businesses. We could finally prioritize public transit and build needed infrastructure to make our state more accessible and appealing to young populations. We don't need to waste money on a nuclear power plant that is more expensive, dangerous, and unnecessary for the state. 

As Michigan moves forward, it's time we leave Palisades in the past and embrace an actual clean energy future.