RIC session addresses reactor restarts—and lessons learned at Palisades

At last week's Regulatory Information Conference, Jamie Pelton cochaired a panel on the Palisades nuclear plant's restart-a "historic restart," as she put it.

Her choice of words was perhaps an understatement. After all, no U.S. nuclear plant has yet restarted after being slated for decommissioning.

"The [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] and the licensee moved from initial engagement to see if restart was even a possibility to approval in just over two years. And that's a significant achievement for this first-of-a-kind action," said Pelton, the acting deputy office director for Reactor Safety Programs and Mission Support in the NRC's Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

Pelton and other panelists involved in high-profile restart projects like Palisades shared their thoughts on the topic at the RIC session, titled "Regulatory Perspectives on the Potential Restart of Facilities in Decommissioning and Lessons Learned from Palisades." Here are some topics addressed during the session.

The Palisades restart:In 2022, then-owner Entergy shut down the Palisades plant in Michigan after more than five decades of operation. Entergy then sold Palisades to Holtec International, whose initial intent was to decommission it. But things quickly changed as plans to revive Palisades sprung to life.

At the RIC session, the panelists discussed the steps needed to bring a decommissioned reactor back on line. The process, they said, requires an NRC strategy and restart panel of inspectors that focuses on licensing safety reviews, program oversight, and inspection activities.

When a plant enters decommissioning status, the 10 CFR Part 50 license is not terminated but rather amended to reflect the plant's new status. To restart, a licensee needs NRC approval to restore its operational status, must restore the plant to a point where it can safely return to operation, and must make the necessary upgrades to return to operation.

Follow the manual:In the NRC Inspection Manual, Chapter 2562 is all about reactor restarts, addressing topics like a restart panel, the transition between oversight processes, and the development of an inspection plan.

Philip McKenna, a previous restart panel cochair, said the chapter in question is not specific to Palisades. It is generic in nature because of something NRC Executive Director of Operations Mike King said back when he was in the Office of Nuclear Reactor Regulation.

King's advice was to make it "generic enough-don't just do it for Palisades," recalled McKenna, acting deputy director of the NRC's Office of Nuclear Security and Incident Response. "There may be more plants in the future that decide to go through this process."

Restarts and inspections:Palisades transitioned from decommissioning to the Reactor Oversight Process (ROP) in August 2025. This remains an ongoing process, with the NRC continuing to inspect under the ROP structure. Panelists said the inspections are intended to align with the site's startup schedule.

Jason Kozal, a cochair of the Palisades restart panel, said they have conducted more than 5,400 hours of direct inspection. While the bulk of this effort has been under the resident baseline category, the work also falls under operator licensing, security, in-service inspections, problem identification and resolution, fire protection, radiation protection, and emergency preparedness.

Crane update:The RIC session also provided panelists a chance to discuss the restart project at Three Mile Island-1, under the new name of Crane Clean Energy Center. Panelists said they expect a review of the plant to be ready by March 2027.

Much like Palisades, the Crane restart's regulatory path is multifaceted and requires many submissions and steps, such as a restoration quality assurance plan, license amendment requests, an environmental report, simulator certification and restoration of training programs, the restoration of engineering and regulatory programs, emergency preparedness plans, and reestablishment of the site's physical security.

Dennis Moore, senior manager of licensing for Constellation Energy, said one of the lessons he's learned from the Crane restart process is that undertaking a restart means scrutinizing every step.

"I'm used to being a nuclear operator where you have a lot of scripted stuff," he said. "There's no script here. I'm just always challenging myself, always challenging-are we in the right place, are we doing the right things at the right time."

The public's role:Key to any reactor restart is the public-and they often come in prepared. Palisades restart panelist Jason Kozal said the public comes in "educated and tech savvy," ready to ask questions on technical items.

"Luckily, we have really good teams and they identified a lot of these issues and allowed us to prep very early for that," said Kozal, who is also the Region III director of the Division of Operating Reactor Safety. "For me, there's been quite a few questions on technical, specifically for Palisades; there's always questions about vessel embrittlement because of the age of the plant.

"I think one of the lessons learned . . . is be ready to have a technical discussion because it's probably coming," he added.

When communicating with the public on these restart projects, meetings should be held as close to the plant as possible, said Erin Carfang, lead for the Crane restart team.

"Having the meeting an hour away from the plant isn't really meeting our objective of communicating with local stakeholders," Carfang said.

Such sessions should be hybrid, as well, giving the public a chance to participate in person or remotely, she added. The location should give all stakeholders-whether it be elected officials, emergency responders, or others-a chance to learn more about something that's never been done before.