US nuclear plant unfit for quick resurrection, former lead engineer says
By Timothy Gardner
WASHINGTON, Aug 2 (Reuters) -The first U.S. nuclear plant to ever try reopening after undergoing preparations for permanent closure is not fit to restart anytime soon because it sidestepped important safety work for years before retirement, a former official at the reactor said.
Power company Entergy ETR.N closed the Palisades reactor in Michigan in 2022, after the plant generated electricity for more than 50 years. Privately-held Holtec International bought Palisades shortly after and has since secured a $1.52 billion conditional U.S. loan guarantee to restart. Holtec seeks to open the plant in about a year.
The fate of Palisades is closely watched by the nuclear industry as at least two other shuttered plants, including a unit at Constellation Energy's CEG.O Three Mile Island, consider reopening.
The administration of President Joe Biden sees nuclear power as a critical tool in the fight against climate change and supports efforts to restart closed plants, delay retirements of existing ones, and speed permitting for new projects.
"I'm pro-nuclear, but they selected the wrong horse to ride to town on," said Alan Blind, who was engineering director at the Palisades plant from 2006 to 2013 under Entergy.
Blind said the plant got exemptions from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the nuclear safety regulator, allowing it to fall short of safety design standards that more modern plants must adhere to because it was nearing retirement.
Those safety standards include prevention of cooling systems being clogged by the breakdown of insulation on pipes, defense against earthquakes, and reduction of risks to fires, Blind said, adding he had been monitoring the plants’ exemption requests since his retirement.
"I'm worried that the NRC will not insist that the generic safety issues be the fixed before they allow Palisades to restart," Blind told Reuters.
Scott Burnell, an NRC spokesperson, said the safety review of Holtec's applications "will include examining how Holtec plans to follow through on technical issues, such as what Mr. Blind describes, that were unresolved when the plant shut down in 2022."
"Those plans will be public to the greatest extent possible," and the NRC will allow a restart only if Holtec meets safety and environmental requirements. Burnell added NRC will soon offer an opportunity to offer legal challenges to Holtec's requests to restart, a standard procedure.
Holtec believes Palisades can restart in about a year within the NRC's existing regulatory framework, said spokesperson Pat O'Brien. "As part of the repowering, Palisades will undergo extensive inspections, testing, maintenance, system and equipment upgrades and modifications to ensure the continuation of safe and reliable operation throughout the plant’s extended operational life," O'Brien said.
Entergy supports the effort to re-open Palisades, said spokesperson Mark Sullivan. He did comment on Blind's concerns about safety standards at the plant.
Entergy shut Palisades in May 2022, two weeks ahead of schedule over a glitch with a control rod, despite a $6 billion federal program to save nuclear plants suffering from rising costs and competition from natural gas and renewable energy.
The Biden administration's Loan Programs Office at the Department of Energy issued Holtec a conditional $1.52 billion loan guarantee in March to restart Palisades.
The LPO referred questions to the NRC.
Reporting by Timothy Gardner, Editing by Nick Zieminski
Aloqador aktivlar
Eng oxirgi yangiliklar
Javobgarlikdan voz kechish: XM Group korxonalari har biri faqat ijro xizmatlarini koʻrsatadi va onlayn savdo platformamizdan foydalanish huquqini beradi, bu odamga veb-saytda yoki veb-sayt orqali mavjud boʻlgan kontentni koʻrish va/yoki undan foydalanishga ruxsat beradi hamda uni oʻzgartirishga moʻljallanmagan va uni oʻzgartirmaydi yoki kengaytirmaydi. Bunday kirish va foydalanish huquqi doimo quyidagilarga boʻysunadi: (i) Shartlar va qoidalar; (ii) Risklar haqida ogohlantirish; va (iii) Javobgarlikni toʻliq rad etish. Shuning uchun bunday kontent umumiy maʼlumot sifatida taqdim etiladi. Xususan, shuni esda tutingki, bizning onlayn savdo platformamiz mazmuni moliyaviy bozorlarda biror bitimni amalga oshirishga oid maslahat yoki taklif emas. Har qanday moliyaviy bozorda savdo qilish sizning kapitalingiz uchun jiddiy risk darajasini oʻz ichiga oladi.
Onlayn savdo platformamizda chop etilgan barcha materiallar faqat taʼlim/axborot maqsadlari uchun moʻljallangan va unda moliyaviy, investitsiya soligʻi yoki savdo maslahatlari va tavsiyalar; yoki bizning savdo narxlarimizning qaydlari; yoki har qanday moliyaviy vositalar bilan bitim tuzish maslahati yoki taklifi; yoki sizga kerak boʻlmagan moliyaviy reklama aksiyalari hisoblanmaydi
Har qanday uchinchi tomon kontenti, shuningdek XM tomonidan tayyorlangan kontent, masalan: fikrlar, yangiliklar, tadqiqotlar, tahlillar, narxlar va boshqa maʼlumotlar yoki bu veb-saytda joylashgan uchinchi tomon saytlariga havolalar umumiy bozor sharhi sifatida "boricha" taqdim etiladi va investitsiya maslahatini tashkil etmaydi. Har qanday kontent investitsiya tadqiqoti sifatida talqin qilinsa, siz bunday kontentni investitsiya tadqiqotlarining mustaqilligini ragʻbatlantirish uchun moʻljallangan qonun talablariga muvofiq moʻljallanmagan va tayyorlanmaganligini eʼtiborga olishingiz va qabul qilishingiz kerak, shuning uchun unga tegishli qonunlar va qoidalarga muvofiq marketing kommunikatsiyasi sifatida qaraladi. Mustaqil boʻlmagan investitsiya tadqiqoti va yuqoridagi maʼlumotlarga oid risk haqida ogohlantirishimizni oʻqib chiqqaningizga va tushunganingizga ishonch hosil qiling, unga bu yerdan kirish mumkin.
