SOUTH HAVEN — Dozens of people from the surrounding community and across the nation attended a hybrid meeting Thursday, Sept. 22, meant to discuss plans to decommission Palisades Nuclear Plant in Covert.

Many of the public comments, however, expressed support or opposition for a different plan — a grant application to reopen the plant. 

The meeting was hosted by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission at Lake Michigan College’s campus in South Haven, located near the plant. Members of the public could also participate and make comments virtually. 

The purpose of the meeting was to solicit comments on the Post Shutdown Decommissioning Activities Report (PSDAR) for Palisades. That plan was submitted by Holtec Decommissioning International in December 2020, well before Holtec officially became owners of Palisades in June. 

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Around two dozen people, in-person and online, offered their thoughts, with some virtual commenters hailing from Michigan, Maryland, New York and California.

One of the main concerns was how Holtec plans to fund decommissioning. The company has said it'll use a decommissioning trust fund — a requirement for nuclear plants, in the event they go bankrupt.

But several attendees questioned the lack of funds in the decommissioning trust fund, and wondered whether Holtec will be able to gather the cash needed to complete the process.

In Holtec’s PSDAR, a dormancy period of around 10 years is planned, during which the company plans to fundraise through investments to pay for the remaining decommissioning. 

NRC officials said the trust fund is monitored by an independent third party, and the organization receives annual reports to ensure Holtec is meeting goals for growth. 

Several people also raised concerns about the potential environmental effects of decommissioning, including Holtec potentially shipping nuclear waste in barges across the Great Lakes.

A handful of people called for more oversight and “real-time monitoring” of Holtec’s activities at Palisades. 

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But many commenters didn't focus on decommissioning at all. Instead, they focused on Holtec’s application to the Civil Nuclear Credit Program, which could lead to the plant’s reopening. Seven people specifically said they were against reopening Palisades, while nine said the plant should be reopened. 

Commenters against reopening cited the safety, or lack thereof, at the plant — with one referring to Palisades as a “time bomb.” They mentioned delayed maintenance projects, including a failed control rod drive seal that led to the plant shutting down earlier than planned. 

“I had a sigh of relief when it was shut down before it blew up,” Kathryn Barnes said.

Those supporting reopening called for energy sources other than fossil fuels, which could be used to supplement the loss of energy from Palisades shutting down.

“Restarting Palisades will save American lives,” said Ryan Pickering of Mothers for Nuclear. “We will use less of other types of energy that are more dangerous.” 

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NRC officials told the public they're not the ones making a decision on reopening the plant. 

“I’m just going to repeat that the NRC is a safety regulator,” said Bruce Watson of the NRC. “We don’t make any decisions on the restart of the plant, other than that it has to be done safely. (Same) with decommissioning, we make sure it is done safely.”

A full transcription of the comments from Thursday’s meeting will be posted online at a later date.

Some decommissioning activities are already underway at Palisades, but major activities cannot proceed until the NRC completes its review of the PSDAR. Public comments on the PSDAR will be accepted until Dec. 27. To comment, visit regulations.gov/document/NRC-2022-0158-0001. 

To view the full PSDAR for Palisades, visit bit.ly/3S9ipcF. Holtec’s application to the CNC, which is supported by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, could be acted on by early October.

— Contact reporter Mitchell Boatman at mboatman@hollandsentinel.com. Follow him on Twitter @SentinelMitch.