Palisades Restart Delayed by Safety Culture Order

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission issued a formal directive to Holtec International on October 23, demanding the company address safety culture issues at the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan.

The order follows a July inspection that revealed a work environment described by regulators as "chilled." The NRC found that employees were reluctant to raise safety concerns due to a fear of retaliation.

The regulatory action stems from a sequence of operational failures over the past year. In late 2025, a contractor fell into the reactor cavity and swallowed water. Although the worker was decontaminated and sent for medical care, an incident report noted that 300 counts per minute were still detected in their hair.

A second incident occurred in August 2026 when a bundle of nuclear fuel rods tilted over during a refueling operation. This mechanical failure delayed the scheduled restart of the facility.

Personnel performance also drew scrutiny. The NRC reported that nine of the 15 reactor operators at Palisades failed their initial licensing examinations administered in July and August. Only six individuals successfully received their operator licenses.

Holtec International, which has never previously operated a nuclear power plant, has secured approximately $2.2 billion in government support for the Palisades project. The facility is central to the administration's push to revive the domestic nuclear industry.

The plant is one of three shuttered facilities with announced restart plans. Owners of Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and Duane Arnold in Iowa also moved to reopen their sites soon after work began at Palisades.