150 employees added to Palisades amid reopening efforts
COVERT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WOOD) — The Palisades nuclear power plant in Van Buren County is on track to reopen.
The power plant in Covert Township shut down in the spring of 2022. In March of last year, the new owner, Holtec International, announced plans to reopen.
The plant now has more than 360 employees, Holtec said in a Tuesday release, 150 of which started working at the plant after it started working to reopen. Almost half are union members, and Holtec has created a recommissioning labor agreement with 15 trade unions, it says.
Palisades owner confident feds will offer ‘transformational’ $1.5 billion loan
“This recruitment initiative has led to the on-boarding of new talent as well as the return of former plant employees, contributing to the preservation and creation of hundreds of high-paying jobs in Michigan,” Holtec shared in the release.
Palisades has hit several milestones as it works to produce energy once again, including receiving a conditional commitment from the U.S. Department of Energy for a $1.52 billion loan.
The generator exciter is being refurbished off-site, and other major work on the plant is underway, Holtec said. It says it has also made “significant progress” on the regulatory side of things as it works to get approval to reopen.
Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
