The Duck Curve#holtec
Holtec plans to move tilted Palisades fuel assembly in a drained canister
Holtec's Palisades Energy filed an emergency license amendment request on September 30, 2026 to retrieve fuel assembly DD41, which tilted to about 30 degrees during the Palisades core reload, using a custom lifting device and a drained transfer canister carried through the containment equipment hatch to the spent fuel pool. NRC staff proposed a no-significant-hazards finding and took public comment through October 8, 2026, the day Holtec answered a second round of staff questions, including on the assembly's bowing.
Holtec pauses Palisades fuel loading after one fuel assembly tilted
Holtec Nuclear Corporation said on September 21, 2026 that fuel loading at its Palisades plant in Covert Township, Michigan remains paused after one fuel assembly tilted from its upright position after it had been placed and the fuel-handling machine grapple had been disengaged; the NRC was notified, a root cause evaluation has begun, and Holtec is preparing a license amendment request for the retrieval method. NRC spokesperson Viktoria Mitlyng told The National there was no radiological release and no workers or the public were affected.
Holtec begins loading fuel into the Palisades reactor
Holtec announced on August 31, 2026 that fuel loading has begun at the Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, Michigan: a core of 204 new and partially used assemblies designed, per the company, to support an 805-MW electric output (ANS Nuclear Newswire describes the unit as 777 MWe; neither figure is labeled gross or net). Holtec says Palisades is advancing toward becoming the first US commercial nuclear plant to return to service after entering decommissioning; the NRC reauthorized power operations by letter dated July 24, 2025.
