What Does It Take to Reopen a Nuclear Power Plant?

In the United States, President Trump aims to expand the country’s nuclear power capacity by developing new projects and restoring old reactors. However, restarting disused reactors is not as simple as just turning them back on, as rigorous safety standards must be considered.In May 2025, President Trump published an executive order entitled “Reinvigorating the Nuclear Industrial Base”, in which he outlined plans to start construction of 10 new large reactors and add 5 GW of power to existing nuclear reactors by 2030.Several U.S. reactors were shut down in previous decades as confidence in nuclear power fell to an all-time low following three prominent nuclear disasters – Chornobyl, Fukushima, and Three Mile Island. However, the public perception of nuclear power has significantly improved in recent years.Last year, Trump announced plans to recommence operations at the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan, a 789-MWe plant owned by Holtec International that shut down in 2022; the Constellation Energy 835-MWe Crane Clean Energy Centre on the Three Mile Island site in Pennsylvania; and NextEra’s 615-MWe Duane Arnold in Iowa. This supports Trump’s aim for a U.S. nuclear renaissance.After a year of fast-tracked efforts to rejuvenate nuclear operations, on Friday, 24th July, the Trump Administration announced it had achieved the goal of bringing three new advanced test reactors to criticality – the stable state where a self-sustaining chain reaction is achieved – by July 4, 2026.When the reactor was shut down at Michigan’s Palisades Power Plant in 2022, it was expected to be permanent. However, the firm Holtec International decided to change plans for the plant by developing a strategy to restart the shuttered nuclear reactor, something that had not previously been seen. Holtec said it expected the recommissioning to take around two years, although this estimate was not accurate.It proved much more difficult to restart a nuclear reactor than previously anticipated due to unexpected challenges and high costs. When assessing the reactor, the company discovered extensive corrosion on the equipment that uses hot radioactive water to produce high-pressure steam. Other setbacks included supply chain disruptions, a leaking underground water line, and the need for new valves.While many of these challenges were predictable for nuclear energy companies, Holtec had never operated a nuclear plant before. When it purchased the plant from the utility company Entergy, Holtec had not yet inspected the entire Palisades plant, according to the general manager of plant operations, Jeff Borah. “We didn’t take the time to really plan out the whole project before we started doing work,” Borah stated. “It’s like building a fire truck on your way to the fire.”However, Holtec’s president, Rick Springman, said that “There are some systems you can’t really inspect until you start the project.” This includes equipment such as the turbine, which required dismantling to be fully inspected over several months. “The difference between building a new house and rehabbing an old house is there is going to be discovery,” said Springman.Nevertheless, Holtec has a contractual deadline of March 2027, which it intends to meet. Holtec plans to begin loading fuel into the reactor as soon as September. Holtec’s move has encouraged other firms to take on recommissioning projects, including Constellation Energy and NextEra.Other ventures have been more straightforward, such as Constellation Energy’s Three Mile Island project. As the reactor being rehabilitated was undamaged, the company hopes to restart it as soon as next year. It helped that Constellation has owned and operated the facility for several years, giving insight into the inner workings of the space and reactors.The Trump administration is supporting the recommissioning of U.S. nuclear reactors by providing billions of dollars in funding to companies looking to take on the challenge. There are concerns that the high cost of renovating and restarting shuttered nuclear reactors will, therefore, fall on the taxpayer. There are also safety concerns, particularly in the case of Holtec, as the company has not previously operated a nuclear plant.The co-chairman of the environmental group Don’t Waste Michigan, Michael J. Keegan, voiced concerns about repairing the corroded steam generators. He suggested that Holtec should have purchased new generators instead. Keegan said, “Here at Palisades, there have been so many compromises.” However, Springman assured the public that the generators have been extensively inspected and tested and that the company “feel[s] very comfortable with the safety of the component.”The Palisades first commenced operations in 1971, which has led many to suggest that funding could be better used to develop a new nuclear reactor, rather than to restart an old one that requires so much work. However, the relatively rapid turnaround of Constellation Energy’s project suggests that some recommissioning operations could be faster and more straightforward than others. This suggests that federal permission to restart old reactors could be given on a case-by-case basis, depending on an extensive assessment of the task. 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