Monday, 31 August 2026

Holtec has begun loading nuclear fuel into the reactor vessel at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant, a step the company said moves the station toward becoming the first commercial US nuclear plant to return to service after entering decommissioning.

The reactor core holds 204 fuel assemblies, a mix of new fuel and partially used fuel from the plant's most recent operating cycles, according to Holtec. The core is designed to support an 805-megawatt electric output.

Fuel loading places the plant in Mode 6 under the Palisades Technical Specifications, which Holtec described as a required step on the path to commercial operation.

The milestone comes after more than two years of inspection, maintenance, refurbishment, testing, and equipment upgrades across the station, work Holtec said was intended to ensure reliability and resiliency for long-term operation.

Financing and offtake for the restart came from three directions. Holtec credited financial support from the State of Michigan, a loan from the US Department of Energy, and long-term power purchase agreements with Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy.

The U.S. Department of Energy's National Reactor Innovation Center (NRIC) selected 13 projects for its Nuclear Energy Launch Pad initiative, announcing the list on August 24, 2026, according to Neutron Bytes. The center is located at Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

Those 13 projects come from 12 developers, chosen against criteria published in the initiative's Request for Applications, Neutron Bytes reported.

Neither NRIC nor DOE is putting money behind the selected work. The two will provide no project funding and no in-kind contributions toward cost sharing, leaving participating firms to finance their own scopes, according to Neutron Bytes.

The structure follows two earlier DOE efforts: the Reactor Pilot Program, established in June 2025, and the Fuel Line Pilot Program, launched in August 2025.

NRIC itself dates to 2019, when it was created to work with industry and the national laboratories on closing the gap between concept, demonstration and commercialization of advanced nuclear technologies, per Neutron Bytes. Launch Pad sits under that mandate.

Separately, INL announced Project Prometheus, a USD 60 million Phase II Genesis Mission initiative applying artificial intelligence to the nuclear sector with the aim of cutting design, licensing, manufacturing and operational timelines, Neutron Bytes reported.

Prometheus carries industry money that Launch Pad does not. Partners have committed more than USD 200 million in cost share and USD 30 million in capital, alongside proprietary design data and commercial deployment pathways, according to Neutron Bytes.

Idaho National Laboratory constructed and tested a new reactor on June 4, 2026, its first in 50 years, according to Atomic Insights, which identified the unit as Antares Mark 0.

Two more followed within a month. Deployable Unity started up on June 30, and Aalo-X on July 4, Atomic Insights reported.

A fourth unit, Radiant Kaleidos, is to be brought to full power and run through a series of stress tests, ending in a continuous full power run of at least 150 hours, per the same account.

The laboratory's staff also supported reactor projects outside Idaho. Atomic Insights reported that INL personnel assisted Valar in Utah and Oklo in Texas, both of which started up during the summer of 2026.

The cost structure separates this cluster of startups from conventional national-laboratory work. Private companies paid to design, build and operate their own equipment, while laboratory staff and Department of Energy staff played supportive roles as needed, according to Atomic Insights.

The Radiant Kaleidos test sequence is the one still ahead. A sustained full power run of at least 150 hours is the endurance threshold set for that unit, distinct from the initial criticality milestones already reached by the three earlier reactors.