Nuclear: for the first time an attempt is being made to reactivate a decommissioned nuclear power plant
A company that typically decommissions closed nuclear power plants wants to do in Michigan what it has never done in the United States: bring a dead plant back to life. Holtec Decommissioning International purchased the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station last June with the stated purpose of decommissioning it, weeks after previous owner Entergy closed it. The fuel has been removed from the reactor core. Federal regulators have been notified of the "permanent cessation of electric operations." But now, with the support of Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer and community leaders in Lake Michigan, where Palisades has been an economic engine for 50 years, Holtec is soon launching a campaign to bring the plant back to life . The 800 megawatt plant generated about 5 percent of the state's electricity.
“Keeping Palisades open is critical to Michigan's competitiveness and future economic development opportunities,” Whitmer said in a letter to Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, also a former Michigan governor, in which she asked for federal funding. for restart.
Activists who have long criticized Palisades for its poor maintenance and dangerousness don't want it to be restarted. They recall years of mechanical problems, including what the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has described as one of the worst cases of nuclear fuel canister failure in the nation. Deterioration of the sealed seal of a device that controls atomic reaction prompted Entergy to close the plant nearly two weeks ahead of schedule in May 2022. "This is uncharted risk territory," said Kevin Kamps, specialist of radioactive waste for a group called Beyond Nuclear, which vowed to "fight this proposal at any rate" after Holtec presented it at an NRC meeting on March 20.
Holtec says the main reason for his rethink on Palisades was a $6 billion federal initiative to prolong older nuclear facilities, part of President Joe Biden's infrastructure bill. carbon neutral economy by 2050. Fission does not generate carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas, although fossil fuels can be used to mine and refine uranium ore for reactors. The waste remains lethally radioactive for thousands of years. "Nuclear reactors support energy independence by ensuring the reliable availability of clean, resilient and affordable energy," the Energy Department said in March, announcing a second funding period for older plants.
Last fall, the Department granted up to $1.1 billion to extend the life of the Diablo Canyon facility in California, which is scheduled for decommissioning in 2024 and 2025. At the time, however, Palisades was not deemed worthy of help but the company wants to use another $1 billion program obtained from the federal government to add $300 million financed by the state.
Restoring the plant would be "a huge challenge," said Jacopo Buongiorno, a professor of nuclear engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In addition to hiring and training hundreds of operators and engineers, the company would have to inspect thousands of parts – making repairs or replacements as needed – and order more uranium fuel. The Palisades license currently prohibits reactor operation, so Holtec would need an overhaul or restart exemptions. The NRC would only agree if it is convinced that the plant "has been brought back to operation," Buongiorno said.
No significant steps have been taken towards decommissioning the plant, company vice president Jean Fleming said at the March meeting. Approximately 380 employees have left the facility following the shutdown, with approximately 220 remaining working on site improvements and safety and preparing to transfer spent fuel from a cooling pool to dry storage.
Holtec hopes to get funding and NRC approval by October. Even then, the reboot will likely take a couple years, Trice said.
Commission regulators told Holtec officials their plan appeared to cover the necessary topics, but would not comment on approval.
“They will need to take questions to engineering staff, provide evidence to demonstrate that what is being asked complies with the law and meets our basic requirements for maintaining public health and safety,” said Scott Burnell, NRC spokesman.
If successful, Palisades would become the first US nuclear reactor to restart after fuel removal and license review to prohibit further operation, Burnell said. “All of the other US reactors that have filed paperwork that says, in effect, 'We have permanently defueled the reactor and are finished operating it'…have moved on for decommissioning.
For Hotec it is a Win-Win solution: if it manages to restart the system then it will benefit from important public contributions for the restart, if it fails
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The article Nuclear power: for the first time an attempt is being made to reactivate a decommissioned atomic power plant comes from Scenari Economici .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/nucleare-per-la-prima-volta-si-cerca-di-riattivare-una-centrale-atomica-dismessa/ on Sun, 30 Apr 2023 14:25:47 +0000.