Granholm ‘hopeful’ about $1B in federal loans to restart Palisades nuclear plant

U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said she is “hopeful” about pending loan applications to fund the restart of the closed Palisades nuclear plant in Michigan.   If approved, the approximately $1 billion in federal loans could help pay for the power plant to become the first U.S. nuclear reactor to restart after powering down. Lawmakers …

Armenia and Russia discuss Armenian 2 operating extension, and new nuclear

Further extending the operating life of the Armenian Nuclear Power Plant’s second unit was identified as a priority during a meeting between Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev and Armenia’s Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. During the meeting, in Yerevan, the two “agreed on specific steps for the near future, which will allow the re-extension work to …

Funds raised to extend operation of Atucha 1

Funding offers of $93m have been received to support extended operation of unit 1 of Argentina’s Atucha NPP by 20-25 years. The funds will also help to finance construction of a second dry storage facility for used fuel at plant site. Argentina’s nuclear utility Nucleoelectrica Argentina SA (NA-SA) said the second tranche of the NASA …

Palisades seeking $300M in state funding to restart nuclear plant

Owners of the Palisades nuclear plant in Southwest Michigan may seek $300 million in state funding to reopen the facility. The owner and operator of a shuttered Southwest Michigan nuclear power plant may ask for about $300 million in state funding to help reopen the facility. Holtec International has launched an unprecedented effort to reopen a …

Japan’s Kansai Electric to restart Takahama No. 4 reactor March 24 after automatic shutdown

Kansai Electric finishes cable works for No. 4 Takahama reactor To restart No. 1, No. 2 Takahama reactors June-July Unclear about restart of No. 2 Maizuru coal-fired unit Japan’s Kansai Electric said March 23 it plans to restart the 870 MW No. 4 Takahama nuclear reactor March 24 and resume power generation the following day …

Palisades Nuclear Plant owner hopes to make official decision on reopening this summer

The owners of Palisades Nuclear Power Plant are hoping to decide this summer if the plant will be reopened. Representatives of Holtec Decommissioning International, which took ownership of the plant shortly after it shut down last May, met with the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on Monday, March 20, to discuss the “regulatory path” for reopening …

Japan regulator bypasses experts in declaring faults under nuclear plant not active

Japan’s Nuclear Regulation Authority (NRA) has approved an electric power company’s claim that faults running just below a nuclear plant are “not active,” without seeking further opinion from a group of experts that indicated the possibility of the faults being active in 2016. After its decision to uphold the Hokuriku Electric Power Co.’s claim that …