Holtec International has reached what the company itself calls a “watershed moment” in the restart project for the Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan. The facility, shut down in May 2022 and placed into decommissioning, is now on the brink of returning to commercial service — an unprecedented event in American nuclear history. At the same time, the same site will host the first two small modular reactors of the SMR-300 design, designated Pioneer-1 and Pioneer-2.
The regulatory process is now well advanced. On August 25, 2025, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission officially changed Palisades’ status from “under decommissioning” to “in operation,” authorizing nuclear fuel loading. Holtec has also received INPO certification as a nuclear operator and completed the World Association of Nuclear Operators’ pre-startup review. The company expects restart during 2026, under direct NRC oversight. If successful, Palisades will be the first US nuclear plant to return to operation after entering decommissioning — a milestone no other operator has ever achieved in the United States.
Federal financial support is substantial. The Department of Energy has already disbursed the sixth tranche of its loan guarantee, bringing total funds distributed to over $155 million out of an overall guarantee of up to $1.52 billion. In December 2025, an additional $400 million grant was awarded, earmarked specifically for the SMR-300 Pioneer program. Those funds will finance licensing activities, pre-construction work, and supply chain mobilization for the two new reactors. On December 31, 2025, Holtec submitted Part 1 of the construction permit application for Pioneer-1 and Pioneer-2 to the NRC, and in February 2026 the agency formally accepted it for review.
The SMR-300 is a pressurized water reactor delivering over 300 MWe, featuring an integrated steam generator and passive safety systems that require no operator intervention during an emergency. A two-unit plant needs roughly 270 staff — far fewer than a conventional plant of comparable output. The design is optimized to produce superheated steam with lower thermal losses and can be deployed in areas with limited water availability or high seismic activity. International interest is significant: in the UK, Holtec has signed an agreement with EDF to build the first SMR-300 units at the former Cottam coal plant site in Nottinghamshire, and the Generic Design Assessment process cleared its second step in 2026. Industrial partners on the Pioneer project include Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Mitsubishi Electric.
At full capacity, the Palisades site will reach a total installed capacity of 1,400 MW: 800 MW from the restarted legacy reactor and 600 MW from the two SMR-300 units, whose construction is expected to be completed in the early 2030s. For Michigan, this means more clean energy, 900 guaranteed jobs, and a clear political statement — Governor Whitmer described it as a step toward asserting the state’s energy leadership. On a national level, the project is opening a path that others are already following — the Crane plant in Pennsylvania is targeting 2027, Duane Arnold in Iowa 2028–2029 — but Palisades is ahead of them all. If 2026 proves to be the restart year, the site on Lake Michigan will become the benchmark for every future nuclear repowering attempt in the United States.
