Friday, 4 September 2026

Holtec has started loading nuclear fuel into the reactor vessel at the Palisades plant in western Michigan, according to Neutron Bytes, clearing a central step in the effort to return the shut-down station to service.

Neutron Bytes reported that the plant sits on the shore of Lake Michigan. The reactor core is made up of 204 fuel assemblies, a mix of new fuel and partially used fuel from the plant's most recent operating cycles, sized to support 805 MW of electric output, the outlet said.

Fuel load follows more than two years of inspection, maintenance, refurbishment, testing, and equipment upgrades across the station, work Neutron Bytes described as aimed at reliability and resiliency for long-term operation.

The financing behind the restart combines public and contracted revenue. Neutron Bytes cited financial support from the State of Michigan, a loan from the U.S. Department of Energy, and long-term power purchase agreements with Wolverine Power Cooperative and Hoosier Energy. Those offtake contracts give the plant committed buyers for its output rather than exposure to merchant power prices alone.

The full-scope control room simulator for units 1 and 2 of the Xudabao nuclear power plant in Liaoning province, China, has entered operation and will train operators for the site's two CAP1000 reactors, World Nuclear News reported.

Both units are to be equipped with 1250 MWe CAP1000 reactors, the Chinese version of the Westinghouse AP1000, according to World Nuclear News.

CNNC put total investment in the two units at more than CNY48 billion (USD6.6 billion).

Ownership of the plant sits with Liaoning Nuclear Power Company Ltd. CNNC holds 70%, Datang International Power Generation Company holds 20%, and State Development and Investment Corporation owns 10%, per World Nuclear News.

Two further reactors are already under construction at the same site. Work on Russian-supplied VVER-1200 units, designated Xudabao 3 and 4, started in July 2021 and May 2022, with commissioning scheduled for 2027 and 2028 respectively, World Nuclear News reported.

Ground work on a small modular reactor project in Myanmar is due to begin in 2027, with Rosatom aiming to conclude a contract for the first engineering surveys before the year is out, World Nuclear News reported.

The survey deal stems from an intergovernmental framework that Russia and Myanmar agreed at a state visit in March 2025. That framework covers a 110 MW project built on two small modular reactors, and leaves room to add further units up to 330 MW, according to World Nuclear News.

Each unit is rated at 55 MW. The chosen design is the RITM-200N pressurised water reactor, adapted from the RITM-200 type that powers the nuclear icebreaker fleet.