Michigan Nuclear Factory shows challenges to us safely restart old reactors

Covert, Michigan – a nuclear power plant on the beaches of Lake Michigan aims to make history this fall by becoming the first reactor in the United States to restart the operations after closing to be dismantled in the end.

Efforts to restart the Palisades factory near South Haven, which was closed three years ago, is a previous event that can pave a way for othersFake reactors to return online.

But Palisades requires major repairs to restart safely, while highlighting the challenges that the industry will face in returning aging factories to life.

Palisades began commercial operations in 1971 during the early wave of building the reactor in the United States, the factory stopped in 2022, one of dozens of reactors that it closed in recent years as nuclear energy has struggled to compete against natural gas and renewable materials cheaper.

The owner of the factory, Holtec International Restart Palisades this fallTaking into account the approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Committee. The restart project is called a 1.5 billion dollars loan guarantee from the Ministry of Energy, 1.3 billion dollars from the Ministry of Agriculture, and $ 300 million in a grant from Michigan State.

On Monday, the Ministry of Energy approved the issuance of approximately $ 57 million of the loan, a sign that the Trump administration supports the project amid disturbances and uncertainty in Washington due to federal funding for projects that started under the Biden administration.

But Holtec faces major repairs to the generators of turbulent steam that can delay a table called NRC. Holtec revealed to the organizers that its inspections had found corrupt tubes in the factory’s births, which were installed in 1990.

These tubes are decisive ingredients that protect public health. If a tube is torn in a nuclear plant, there is a risk of release of radioactive materials in the environment, According to NRC. Plant owners are required to explain to NRC that if the tube fails, any radiological release outside the circumference of the plant will remain less than what the regulator describes as “its conservative limits.”

“NRC is afraid to death from the tear of the steam generator. It is a very real accident. It is not hypothetical.” Blind, a retired now, said he supports nuclear energy but is concerned about the condition of the Palisades factory based on contracts for experience in this industry.

Scott Burnil, a NRC spokesman, said that Palisades is in a safe state in a safe state, because steam generators are not in use because the factory is closed and distressed.

“The company has” described “the generators and” it is fully repaired. ” The company asked NRC to complete its review of the repair plan by August 15, but the federal organizers question the company’s schedule.

Steve Bloom, head of the NRC branch, warned Holtik during a general meeting on January 14 that the work required to review the plan “will be added to an aggressive schedule.” Eric Richelt, a large NRC material engineer, called the table “very hard”, and he tells Holtec at the meeting that only a few people are available in the organizational body to carry out the necessary review work.

The radioactive water that revolves through the reactor and clean water that boils in generators does not come into contact with each other. However, if a tube is torn, contaminated water can be released with clean water and radiation materials in the environment through valves that are unique to vapor, According to NRC.

Holtec searches have found more than 1,400 indicators of corrosion breaking over more than 1,000 steam tubes in Palisades, according to one company Apply with NRC In October 2024, the tubes did not fail, Krishna Singh, CEO of Holtec CNBC, told February. Many corrosion cracks with penetration of more than 70 %, according to the submission.

Due to the age of the factory, the steam generator pipes are made up of an alloy that the industry has learned since then is exposed to breaking the corrosion, According to NRC. Holtec said it uses a technique to repair pipes called “sleeves” in which high -quality alloy is inserted and expanded to close the damage.

Tres said: “The reform techniques that we use, which are called sleeves, have been made in about 10 plants around the world, and in some plants take place in every interruption, so this is not a new strange technique.” “It is a common repair technique, and we expect this to be done on time and on time.”

CNBC spokesman Nick Collip said the Holtec repair plan is scheduled to start this summer after inspection and test. Burnil said that Holtec can move forward in repairing the tube in its schedule, but the company is doing so on its own responsibility because NRC will decide whether the repairs will eventually meet the requirements.

However, during the January 14 meeting, the head of the NRC Bloom branch prompted Holtec data that the company’s reform plan follows the previous industry.

Bloom said at the January meeting: “Although you are quoting, do not become injured, after a precedent, it is not exactly, because it is a different substance, a different type of sleeve.” Holtec’s sleeves for repairs have not been installed in steam generators before, although it was used in other heat exchangers in nuclear plants, According to the company’s deposit.

The sleeves are made of an alloy no signs of cracking in the United States or international plants, according to the presentation. The file said that the component has a service age of no more than 10 years. Collip said the tester and analysis of the sleeves “supports long -term performance.”

Pipe problems arise whether the vapor generators should be replaced with aging, a costly project that former Palisades knows that it will be necessary at some point but has never been dealt with.

Consumer energyFor example, sold Palisades Entergy In 2007 for $ 380 million in part because Michigan Public Service Committee.

Consumer energy assumed that generators need to be replaced in 2016, according to the deposit. Entergy, however, has not yet replaced them. Blind, who was the engineering director of Palisades at that time, said.

“They felt that with their experience that they could prolong the remaining life, and this is exactly what they did until they closed it,” Peron said.

Entergy Palisades closed in May 2022 and sold the factory to Holtec to take over. But the governor of Michigan Grechen is going through a A message to the Ministry of Energy He was pushed to keep Palisades open, citing the functions supported by the factory and the need for a carbon -free force. Support from the Ruler’s Office, Holtik I applied for federal support for the first time To restart Palisades two months after closing it.

On February 15, 2000, Indian Point Unit 2 operators received a notification that the steam generator had failed, according to the NRC report about the accident. Unified Edison The organizer said that a warning and closed the factory. It will remain closed for 11 months, while the cause of rupture has been investigated and the case of the four steam generators was analyzed.

The rupture led to “a simple radiological launch of the environment that was within the regulatory limits,” he said NRC workplace report. The accident “did not affect public health and safety,” according to the report. However, NRC Con Edison slapped with a Red quoteThe most dangerous violation, after defining the leakage was “the importance of high safety”.

Breen, who was the deputy head of the nuclear authority in Indian Point, said that the leak was present and there was no evacuation of neighboring societies, but the authorities in Westemster at the time were very concerned about the risks of the public.

“We contained all the radioactive water, but they were so afraid that they were about to close all schools,” said Brain. “They will not allow children to get to school in the morning until they saw how he played all this. All this is very dangerous.”

The leakage is proven to Con Edison. The utility tool replaced the four steam generators in The estimated cost is up to 150 million dollarsAccording to the company’s files of time. The bill could have been higher if it had no alternative steam generators already on hand. The utility has had alternative generators since 1988, but it did not install it. The Con Edison also paid more than $ 130 million of fees associated with a 11 -month interruption in the factory.

Peron said that Edison’s universe decided to replace steam generators at the Indian point to reduce the risk of another tube rupture when the factory restarts.

“We were publicly circulated,” said Peron. “He decreased from the painting, and he said we could not live with this uncertainty.”

The utility tool Indian units were sold 1 and 2 to Entergy For $ 502 million in 2001, according to a deal that also included gas turbine assets. The sale was under consideration before the tube rupture. CON EDISON estimated a $ 170 million loss after the sale of Point Indian, According to files From time.

Breen said the risk of restarting Palisades is high for the entire nuclear industry. The demand for nuclear energy grows again in the United States as a state, facilities, and technology, looking for a more reliable and carbon -free power. Renewed interest in the name of the “nuclear renaissance” was indicated years after the closure of the reactor in the United States

ConstellationFor example, plans to restart it Three -miles Factory in 2028, taking into account the approval of NRC. Constellation said the factory’s steam generators underwent inspection and maintenance in good condition. Nextera Energy Declare In July 2024, she evaluates whether to restart it Duane Arnold Plant In Iowa is possible.

Bear said that an accident in the Palisades “will be devastating to the entire industry.” “There will be calls to rethink this idea of ​​renaissance,” he said.

Culp of Holtec said that the sleeves used to repair steam generators in Palisades will be monitored and searched continuously and subject to organizational control while they are in service. He said that the factory uses multiple layers of defense to “protect the workforce, society and the environment.”

Bornl said that NRC inspectors will monitor Holtec repair activities during their implementation and will ensure that steam generators meet all safe operating requirements. “This includes ensuring the public and the environment from radiological concerns,” said NRC spokesman.