A Michigan Nuclear Plant Is Slated to Restart, but Trump Could Complicate Things

If the restart doesn’t happen, he said Wolverine wouldn’t lose money, but would have to take more time and “a lot more solar to replace something like Palisades.”

Now the co-op is figuring out what to make of Trump’s orders to pause and review IRA spending, and subsequent guidelines.

Officials with Holtec maintain that they don’t pose a problem, and that the Department of Energy will stick to the $1.5 billion loan. As for the power purchase agreement with the electric cooperatives, it “was completed well before any grants were factored in,” said spokesperson Patrick O’Brien in an email. 

Nuclear power is polarizing, and behind the latest deluge of executive actions, the debate continues around whether and how much to rely on, invest in, and develop it. 

Critics — and even Trump himself — have pointed to the industry’s history of delays and going over budget, like the new Vogtle reactors in Georgia, which came online years behind schedule.

Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialist with the group Beyond Nuclear, thinks the Palisades restart is ill-advised.

“This is unprecedented risk taking that they’re talking about now. They’ve never done this before. It’s not needed,” he said. “Renewables are really the way to go, not resurrecting very problematic nuclear power plants.”

Beyond Nuclear has been an outspoken critic of Holtec, with longstanding concerns including radioactive contamination and nuclear waste storage. It has also intervened in the licensing process for the restart. Kamps said if necessary, they will take the matter to federal court.

“We’ll fight it as long as we can, till the last opportunity,” he said. “We feel that strongly about it.”

Environmental groups like Sierra Club Michigan have spoken against the restart as well, urging the state to develop renewables and energy storage instead. 

While renewable energy has been on the rise — and generated over a fifth of the country’s electricity in 2023 — nuclear power is the third-largest source, something its supporters say can’t be dismissed. A common argument for nuclear is that it provides a baseload of power necessary to supplement less reliable renewable technologies harnessing the sun and wind.

Of course, developing nuclear power is expensive. Allison Macfarlane, a professor and director of the University of British Columbia’s school of public policy who chaired the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission from 2012 to 2014, said advancing nuclear technology, including things like smaller reactors, will require federal support.  

“To bring any of these new technologies to a real commercial level will take an investment of tens to hundreds of billions of dollars. The only place where you can find that amount of money is the government,” she said, pointing out that the Trump administration wants to cut costs. 

There are also procedural obstacles. Before reopening the Palisades plant, Holtec must get approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which will assess the facility, including its safety and infrastructure. For instance, inspectors are looking at issues with the plant’s steam generators, and regulators have called Holtec’s timeline “very, very demanding.” 

More broadly, the recent funding back-and-forth may complicate the landscape for nuclear, according to Tyler Norris, who worked in the Department of Energy during the Obama administration and is now a fellow at Duke University. 

“Based on real-world conversations with regulators, I can say firsthand that the uncertainty the Trump administration has created around the future of these programs is dampening the investment environment for advanced nuclear,” Norris said. 

Others say Trump’s support for nuclear is clear in signs like his pick for energy secretary, fossil fuel executive Chris Wright, who has talked about expanding it. Quill Robinson, a senior advisor with the right-of-center nonprofit ConservAmerica, thinks that could continue.

“For many Republicans who have questions about the intermittency issues of wind and solar and the concentration of renewable supply chains in China, they see nuclear as a solution that also happens to be quite environmentally friendly,” he said. “So I would imagine that this administration is going to be pretty bullish on [nuclear] technology.”

Izzy Ross is Regional Reporter, Great Lakes, at Grist. This story was originally published by Grist. You can subscribe to its weekly newsletter here.