The Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township has returned to operational status, becoming the first U.S. nuclear plant to do so.
Palisades owner Holtec International announced the step Monday, and while it won't allow the plant to generate power, the new status will allow it to order and receive fuel for plant reactors.
The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the change in July.
Holtec Spokesperson Nick Culp said the announcement has set a precedent that others will soon follow.
“When we started this, the thinking was, 'Well, this has never been done before. So, could it be done?' And now we're proving that yes, it can. And because of that, you now see other nuclear power plants across the country that are looking at doing exactly what we've done here at Palisades.”
Culp said Palisades is on track to begin generating power by the end of the year, assuming it meets requirements set by the NRC.
“The work that we need to complete still needs to get done. There's a number of inspections that we'll still need to get done as well, but this a major step forward to getting us to that restart date," he said.
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
