Holtec on Feb. 25 detailed plans to build small modular reactors at the Palisades nuclear power plant site in Covert Township, Michigan, with a target of 2030 for first commercial operation.
The new SMR-300s will be co-located with the existing 800-megawatt Palisades plant, which is on track to restart after an extended outage following shutdown in 2022.
In the SMR launch ceremony held at the Palisades site, significant milestones in Holtec’s site preparation work for the SMR-300s was spotlighted and included the signing of an expanded alliance agreement with Hyundai Engineering & Construction to build a 10-gigawatt fleet of SMR-300s in North America through the 2030s, beginning with the landmark Palisades SMR project.
Since announcing the Palisades SMR-300 project in 2023, Holtec has made substantial progress, including detailed site and environmental studies to choose a location for the plant within the Palisades property, establishment of a groundwater monitoring program, and completion of soil borings.
Holtec has invested over $50 million to date in the SMR-300 site development and environmental activities, keeping a schedule to start the formal U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission construction permitting process early next year.
Alongside site preparation work, Holtec has been engaged in public and government outreach on the project.
In preparation for construction of the Palisades SMR-300 plant, Holtec Feb. 21 signed an expanded cooperation agreement with Hyundai E&C for SMR-300 construction, expanding prior collaboration forged in 2021.
The exclusive partnership will enable rapid scaling of the SMR-300 program based on learnings from the first-of-a-kind SMR-300 project at Palisades. where it’s needed most.”
Holtec’s SMR-300 is an advanced, passively safe, pressurized light water nuclear power plant, each unit designed to produce 300 megawatts of energy.
