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Trump officials unfreeze $1.3B for rural co-ops to buy Michigan nuclear plant power
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An aerial view of Palisades Nuclear Power Plant along Lake Michigan in Covert, Michigan on Thursday, Nov. 16, 2023. Holtec International aims to bring the decommissioned plant back online in 2025, and Trump administration officials have released funding for rural electric cooperatives to purchase the entire 800-megawatt output from the plant.Joel Bissell | MLive.com
Officials with Donald Trump’s administration will unfreeze more than a billion dollars for rural electric cooperatives in Michigan and Indiana to purchase power from the Palisades nuclear plant, should a planned facility restart succeed.
The move is another example of the Trump administration doubling down on low-carbon nuclear power, even as it pulls back Biden-era clean energy investments across the nation, seeks to boost fossil fuel production and undo environmental rules focused on combating climate change.
The USDA grants for Wolverine and Hoosier under the Empowering Rural America, or New ERA, program now follow suit. The $9.7 billion program is a component of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions while boosting reliability for rural electric co-ops.
The announcement comes with one potential catch.
The co-ops will have 30 days to voluntarily align their plans with the Trump agenda, which the USDA described as an “opportunity to refocus their projects on expanding American energy production while eliminating Biden-era (diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility) and climate mandates.”
It’s unclear if the voluntary revisions will become mandatory conditions for receiving the money. The USDA did not respond to a request for comment.
Wolverine is still reviewing the USDA notice but doesn’t currently plan on making any changes to its proposed project, said Vice President of Communications Casey Clark in a statement. Wolverine believes in the merits of its plans as submitted, and they align with the Trump administration’s interest in strengthening reliability and affordability of domestic energy production, Clark said.
“This is a welcome and positive step. Palisades is vital to Michigan’s electric reliability and affordability,” she said.
A spokesperson for Hoosier Energy didn’t respond to a voicemail and email requesting comment.
Media and officials gather in the training control room at the Palisades nuclear plant in Covert Township, Mich., Sept. 30, 2024. U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Agriculture deputy secretaries visited the plant to promote loans and grants for Holtec International’s effort to restart the closed nuclear plant. While some of that funding was frozen when Donald Trump took office, the agencies are now releasing it. (Garret Ellison | MLive)Garret Ellison
Some Michigan energy policy observers said the change in guidelines appears consistent with the Trump administration’s approach.
The Biden administration routinely added grant provisions requesting an outline of what DEI components would be built into project, and Trump officials seem to be asking applicants to strip that out across many programs, said Ed Rivet, executive director of the Michigan Conservative Energy Forum.
“In the end, I believe most of the grants will go out, sans a DEI component in the project,” Rivet said.
Trump USDA officials, even while releasing Inflation Reduction Act funds, have criticized the law.
“The IRA was marketed as a cure-all but delivered more bureaucracy than benefits for rural families,” said U.S. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins in a statement announcing the release of the New ERA funds. “This course correction puts those investments back to work to support President Trump’s vision for energy independence and sets rural America on a path to lasting prosperity.”
The move comes after the Michigan and Indiana cooperatives and nearly 50 others that stand to benefit from Biden-era programs supporting clean and renewable energy lobbied the USDA to support the efforts, frozen as soon as Trump took office.
Wolverine is set to receive some $650 million to buy Palisades power, with Hoosier getting nearly $675 million for electricity from the plant and other solar power, according to New ERA project summaries now scrubbed from the USDA website.
Wolverine, based in Cadillac, is a nonprofit that sells wholesale energy to six member cooperatives that service wide swaths of the Lower Peninsula.
Together with Hoosier, it has a 30-year agreement with Holtec International, the company leading the Palisades restart, to purchase its entire 800-megawatt output, enough to power 800,000 homes.
Holtec has said it hopes to bring Palisades back from decommissioning — which would be a first in U.S. history, though other plants have returned after yearslong outages — by October. It still faces permitting hurdles and the need to repair plant components.
A nuclear resurgence has bipartisan support at the state and federal level from Republicans drawn to nuclear power’s baseload reliability and from climate-minded Democrats drawn to its low carbon emissions.
A Monday, Sept. 30 2024 aerial view of the Palisades nuclear plant warehouse and training area. Holtec International wants to build two small modular reactors (SMRs) at this site by 2030. Rural electric cooperatives with rights to buy the power say federal subsidies give Holtec confidence in carrying out the investments.Garret Ellison
In a letter to the USDA, officials with Hoosier Energy said the cooperatives’ agreement to buy Palisades power includes rights to electricity from the SMRs, which could be some of the first of their kind in the U.S.
The federal nuclear subsidies give Holtec confidence to proceed with the plans, the co-op said.
NRC Makes Available License Application for a Method to Remediate Abandoned Uranium Mine Waste
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has received an application from Disa Technologies, Inc., requesting a license to use High-Pressure Slurry Ablation technology to remediate abandoned uranium mine waste at inactive mine sites. The application is available for public viewing on the NRC website.
The NRC staff is reviewing the application to determine if it is complete and acceptable to start the detailed technical review. If accepted, the NRC will first issue an acceptance letter to Disa and then publish a notice of opportunity to request an adjudicatory hearing on the application before the NRC’s Atomic Safety and Licensing Board.
High-Pressure Slurry Ablation is a mechanical process that separates minerals in mine waste into different parts. One part contains the uranium that can be recovered or disposed. The other part could be clean and left onsite.
Introducing: Episode 7, 46th Anniversary of the Accident at Three Mile Island
The Boy and Island podcast presents a 3 part series commemorating the 46th anniversary of the accident at Three Mile Island.
Part 1 is a brief eulogy for my late father, James Hurst, who passed on September 2nd, 2024 at age 79. Part 2 is an interview with my dear friend, Don Hossler who worked closely with my father in the grassroots community-based organization P.A.N.E. (People Against Nuclear Energy). And lastly, Part 3 is a revealing and colorful interview with activist and public servant extraordinaire, Eric Epstein.
It is a great privilege and an honor to bring these programs to you.
Thanks again for your interest. Go to boyandisland.com for more info, drop me a line, tell a friend and take care!
The Boy and Island podcast is a companion to the book project currently in development by Andrew Hurst. The podcast follows Andrew's creative process as he reflects on the Three Mile Island accident after 40-plus years and examines the remarkable ways that time has distorted, as well as clarified the event's importance as a pivotal moment in world history and as a penultimate event in his family's history.
NRC Proposes $14,400 Civil Penalty Against Missouri-based Hospital
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a $14,400 civil penalty against Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for violations associated with providing appropriate oversight and guidance for a medical treatment using NRC-regulated material.
The NRC identified four violations of NRC requirements involving failures related to a written directive, proper treatment procedures, training, and staffing of a Radiation Safety Officer. The violations were documented in a December inspection report.
There was no impact on public health as a result of these violations.
The NRC issued the enforcement action after reviewing the circumstances surrounding the proposed violations, considering the information presented by the company during a pre-decisional enforcement conference, and taking into account corrective actions the company has or plans to take to comply with NRC regulations.
The company has 30 days to pay the fine, dispute it, or request involvement from a neutral third-party.
A new way to power data centers: pair clean energy and… | Canary Media
An RMI report finds that solar and wind energy could connect to rarely used gas plants to meet gigawatts of data center demand, and still share power with the grid.
NRC Proposes $9,000 Civil Penalty Against Hartford Hospital
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has proposed a $9,000 fine to Hartford Hospital in Connecticut for a violation of NRC requirements regarding the retention of complete and accurate records.
In May 2022, radioactive material was accidentally spilled in a lab in the hospital’s Nuclear Medicine Department. An NRC investigation found that in July 2022 a former hospital employee completed a report on the spill that contained inaccurate pre- and post- contamination survey results and failed to document information about the equipment used to measure contamination levels. NRC regulations require that the report be maintained for three years.
The NRC sent the hospital a letter in October 2024, documenting the violation and providing the investigation summary. A pre-decisional enforcement conference was held in November to allow NRC staff and Hartford Hospital officials to discuss the apparent violations, their significance, root causes, and the hospital’s corrective actions.
The NRC has concluded that the company’s information and actions in response to the violation are adequate and compliance with NRC requirements has been addressed.
The company has 30 days to pay the proposed penalty, contest the penalty in writing, or request alternative dispute resolution with the NRC to resolve this issue.
