FEMA@PALISADES

FEMA@PALISADES

Rushed Radiological Emergency Preparedness (REP)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency held a public meeting in southwest Michigan about re-establishing emergency preparedness/evacuation planning (EP) at the long closed Palisades atomic reactor on Lake Michigan’s shore. On July 11, 2022, Holtec successfully requested the Nuclear Regulatory Commission exempt Palisades from EP requirements, as the reactor had closed a month earlier, and would be decommissioned. We objected at the time, as the nearly thousand tons of highly-radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel stored on-site could still unleash a radioactive catastrophe. But a week earlier, Holtec had already decided to restart Palisades instead, not announcing it until two months later. It has hidden behind decommissioning’s regulation-free zone, risking dangerous high-level waste transfers with no certified EP.

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{Update: On August 15, 2025, Beyond Nuclear submitted extensive comments to FEMA on its REP for Palisades’ restart, by the agency’s rushed deadline.}