Palisades restart: Praised by industry, challenged by watchdogs

In the aftermath of last week’s federal approval to restart the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township, the debate over its future is heating up. Palisades is expected to generate more than 800 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 800,000 Michigan homes. Holtec International, which owns the site, calls it a historic milestone – it’s the first U.S. nuclear plant to return to operations after being decommissioned. But Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist at the nonprofit Beyond Nuclear, warned that long-delayed safety issues at the site have not been addressed. “One example would be a license amendment request by Holtec to further delay implementation of fire protection upgrades that have been delayed at Palisades for a half century,” said Kamps, “and they want to d