Holtec

  • The New Power Build Cycle for AI Data Centers

    AI-driven load growth is putting significant strain on the grid, intensifying pressure on utilities and developers to secure firm capacity and meet increasingly compressed delivery timelines. While tools such as transmission optimization can deliver incremental gains, they do not address the core issue: the pace of AI data center expansion is forcing a shift from […]

  • DOE Selects TVA, Holtec to Receive $800 Million to Advance SMR Deployment

    The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said the agency has selected the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and Holtec Government Services to support early deployments of advanced light-water small modular reactors (SMRs) in the U.S. The DOE on December 2 said project teams with the two groups will receive up to $800 million in “federal cost-shared funding” targeted for projects in Tennessee and Michigan.

  • Successfully Closing a Power Plant? It’s All in the Details

    The retirement of older thermal power generation facilities, driven by a transition to cleaner forms of energy, has increased in recent years as utilities and other power generators mothball plants that are uneconomic or simply no longer needed.

  • Restart of Indian Point Nuclear Plant? ‘Yes,’ Says Holtec Official

    A 2-GW nuclear power plant in New York State that was shut down in 2021 could be restarted, an official with Holtec International said. The Indian Point station, which sits near the Hudson River in Buchanan, New York, is the latest among a handful of shuttered U.S. nuclear power facilities being considered for reopening as […]

  • Palisades Nuclear Plant Moved to Operations Status, Ready to Receive Fuel

    Holtec International said the Palisades Power Plant, which was closed in 2022 and set for decommissioning, is now the first U.S. nuclear power plant to officially return to operations status. Holtec, which bought the Michigan-based plant to decommission it but instead decided the facility could be restarted, on August 25 said Palisades is now authorized […]

  • DOE Approves Fifth Loan Disbursement to Holtec for Historic Restart of Palisades Nuclear Plant

    The U.S. Department of Energy released an $83.2 million loan disbursement to Holtec International on Thursday, bringing total federal funding to $335.1 million as the company moves toward completing America’s first commercial nuclear reactor restart. The fifth installment under DOE’s $1.52 billion loan guarantee follows key Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)  approvals that authorized Holtec to […]

  • DOE Releases More Funding to Reopen Palisades Nuclear Plant

    Energy Secretary Chris Wright on April 22 announced the release of the third loan disbursement to Holtec for the reopening of the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan.

  • Tear It Down or Start It Back Up? Plant Owners Weigh Options Around Retired Reactors

    Nuclear power plants are still being dismantled, and the business of decommissioning remains strong, but the need for more baseload power and emissions-free generation has some companies ready to restart idled

  • DOE Loan Programs Office Publishes Community Benefits Plans for Energy Projects

    The U.S. Dept. of Energy’s (DOE’s) Loan Programs Office (LPO) has published Community Benefits Plans (CBPs) for several projects that recently finalized financing from the agency. The projects include the restart of the Palisades nuclear power station in Michigan, which is expected next year. The DOE on Oct. 29 said the CBPs are part of […]

  • UK SMR Competition Narrows Contenders to Four Nuclear Designs

    The UK government has narrowed its shortlist of technologies competing in its flagship Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition to four candidates. On Sept. 25, it announced that Westinghouse, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Holtec Britain, and Rolls-Royce SMR remain in the running to negotiate potentially multi-billion-pound nuclear technology development contracts under the fast-track initiative aimed at […]

  • Palisades Nuclear Plant on Path to Recommissioning by 2025

    The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Loan Programs Office (LPO) announced a conditional commitment of up to $1.52 billion for a loan guarantee to Holtec Palisades LLC to finance the restoration and resumption of service of the Palisades Power Plant, an 800-MW nuclear generating station in Covert Township, Michigan (Figure 1). The project aims to bring […]

  • Holtec Bets on Nuclear Paired with Solar to Support Decarbonization

    The decarbonization of power generation is fostering research and development of new energy technologies, and some companies are reimagining what’s possible when it comes to power plant design. That includes pairing nuclear power with solar power, in a system that could repurpose a brownfield site—for example, a closed or soon-to-retire thermal power plant with transmission […]

  • UK Nuclear Recap: Major Funding for GEH’s SMR and Sizewell C as Hinkley Point C Suffers New Hefty Delays

    Over the past week, the UK government stepped up its nuclear agenda, doling out a £33.6 million grant under its Future Nuclear Enabling Fund to support GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH)’s BWRX-300 while also announcing a substantial £1.3 billion investment in the proposed 3.2-GW Sizewell C nuclear project. The developments, aimed at potentially tripling the […]

  • UK Shortlists Six Nuclear Designs in SMR Competition, Intends to Award Contract by Summer 2024

    Six nuclear designs will advance to the next phase of the UK’s Small Modular Reactor (SMR) competition, a fast-track measure that could result in a government contract within the next 10 months as part of a strategy to deliver operational SMRs by the mid-2030s. EDF, GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy (GEH), Holtec Britain, NuScale Power, Rolls Royce SMR, […]

  • Palisades Nuclear Power Plant May Get a Second Chance with Holtec-Wolverine Agreement

    Holtec International, a diversified energy technology company, and Wolverine Power Cooperative, a not-for-profit power generation cooperative based in Michigan, announced that they have entered into a long-term agreement that will “pave the way” for the restart of the 800-MW Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township, Michigan (Figure 1). The Palisades reactor was taken offline […]

  • NRC Issues License for Holtec’s New Mexico Consolidated Spent Nuclear Fuel Storage Facility

    The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has granted Holtec International a license to build and operate a consolidated interim storage facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel in southeastern New Mexico, despite the state’s opposition. Granted on May 9 after an eight-year process, the NRC’s license allows Holtec to “receive, possess, transfer, and store” 500 canisters holding […]

  • The 12 Most-Read POWER Global Monitor Articles of 2022

    Every month, POWER magazine publishes several articles in its Global Monitor section covering topics important to the electric power generation industry. The articles typically feature interesting updates on progress made at notable projects around the world, big policy changes, or promising research and development (R&D) news. Short notes about major contracts are also touched on […]

  • DOE Grants First-Round Civil Nuclear Credit Award—$1.1B—to Diablo Canyon 

    The Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) first round of funding from its $6 billion Civil Nuclear Credit (CNC) Program is poised to go to Diablo Canyon Power Plant, California’s only operational nuclear plant. Pacific Gas & Electric  (PG&E), Diablo Canyon’s owner, could receive up to $1.1 billion in credits to extend the 2.2-GW plant’s operation for […]

  • Holtec Unveils Green Boiler Designed to Repurpose Coal Plants

    Holtec International, an equipment provider that specializes in the design and manufacture of parts for nuclear reactors, in May unveiled a “green boiler” technology that is designed to repurpose existing

  • Small Modular Reactors Provide Opportunity to Rethink Automation for Nuclear Generation

    An emerging generation of small modular reactors is encouraging suppliers and regulators alike to consider new digital instrumentation and control approaches. While instrumentation and control (I&C)

  • Making Power Plants Purr or Putting Them to Sleep: Hard Equipment and Soft Tools

    Maintenance equipment and tools have always been important for plant operators. In the early days, the tools were likely made entirely of iron and steel, copper and brass, lead, leather, rubber, or glass. Some

  • DOE Revives Consent-Based Siting Process for Commercial Spent Nuclear Fuel Disposal

    Potentially jumpstarting long-paralyzed efforts to address the federal management of spent nuclear fuel (SNF), the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Nov. 30 issued a request for information (RFI) that could determine where the agency will temporarily consolidate and store spent fuel from nuclear reactors across the nation. Under the RFI, the DOE is seeking […]

  • Nuclear Advisory Council Deems Commissioning of Holtec SMR-160 by 2030 a ‘Credible Target’

    Holtec International’s ambitions to install its first set of SMR-160 small modular reactor nuclear plants in the U.S. by 2030 may be a “credible target,” the company’s advisory council comprising 20 utility and nuclear industry leaders has reportedly determined.  The Holtec Advisory Council, a body that provides Holtec with “input on the technical and commercial merits […]

  • NRC Backs Storing Nuclear Waste in Texas

    Federal regulators have approved a private company’s plan to store nuclear waste in the oil fields of West Texas, the latest move in the continuing saga of where to store spent fuel from U.S. nuclear power plants. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) on Sept. 13 issued a license to Interim Storage Partners LLC (ISP), […]

  • New Mexico Sues NRC to Halt Consolidated Interim Nuclear Waste Storage Facilities

    New Mexico has sued the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), challenging the legality of the agency’s proceedings involving separate proposals to build and operate two consolidated interim storage facilities (CISFs) for spent nuclear fuel (SNF) in New Mexico and Texas.  In a complaint filed on March 29 against the NRC and the U.S. government, New Mexico […]

  • Beyond Nuclear Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging High-Level Radioactive Waste Dump Targeted at Texas/New Mexico Border

    WASHINGTON, DC (February 10, 2021) — The non-profit organization Beyond Nuclear filed suit in federal court today to prevent the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) from licensing a massive “consolidated interim storage facility” (CISF) for highly radioactive waste in Andrews County, west Texas. In its Petition for Review filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals […]

  • Entergy and Holtec File Request to Transfer Palisades Nuclear Plant Post-Shutdown

    Holtec to Complete Decommissioning Decades Sooner than Entergy COVERT, Mich. – Entergy Corporation and Holtec International, through their affiliates, jointly submitted a License Transfer Application today with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission requesting approval to transfer the NRC licenses for the Palisades Nuclear Plant to Holtec following its shutdown and permanent defueling in the spring […]

  • POWER Nuclear Notebook: Centrus Deal for Commercial HALEU Supply, Potential Advanced Reactor Demonstration in Ohio

    Several industry-led developments and a possible new advanced nuclear demonstration have been announced since the White House working group laid out a national strategy to revive the nuclear industry last week. Centrus Energy on April 28 signed a letter of intent with Advanced Reactor Concepts (ARC), developer of a 100-MWe sodium-cooled fast-reactor design, that potentially […]

  • Indian Point Unit 2 Will Shut Down April 30

    One of the two remaining operating reactors at the Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan, New York, will close for good on April 30, shutting down early as part of an agreement between Entergy, the plant’s operator, the state of New York, and environmental groups who had pressured officials to close the plant. The 1,020-MW […]

  • Joint U.S-Canadian Advanced Nuclear Review May Focus on Terrestrial’s Molten Salt Reactor, NuScale SMR

    Terrestrial Energy’s Integral Molten Salt Reactor (IMSR), a 195-MWe Generation IV nuclear technology, and NuScale’s small modular reactor (SMR) may be the focus of the first joint technical review by U.S. and Canadian nuclear regulators in a bid to boost their regulatory effectiveness as more advanced reactors and SMRs trundle toward commercialization.  Rumina Velshi, president […]