Palisades restart top news story of 2025 in Michigan

[Yard sign design by Michigan Safe Energy Future-Kalamazoo Chapter and the Shut Down Palisades Campaign; photo by Kevin Kamps]

Several publications and outlets have named Holtec’s impending, unprecedented restart of the 60-year-old, closed-for-good Palisades atomic reactor as a top news story of 2025 (or as a top environmental story to watch in 2026):

Michigan Advance’s top 2025 environmental stories (the article reports: “...However, a host of anti-nuclear groups continue to raise concerns about the safety of the restart, with a trio of organizations filing a federal lawsuit arguing the plant is legally barred from resuming operations after entering decommissioning status.“);

BridgeMichigan’s “5 Michigan environment stories to watch in 2026” (the article reports: …“They’re making a mockery of safety regulations and even laws,” said Kevin Kamps, a Kalamazoo-based radioactive waste specialist with Beyond Nuclear. His group will likely file additional suits if the Nuclear Regulatory Commission allows the plant to reopen.”);

Michigan Public Radio’s “2025 Year in Review: The best of the Environment Report” (the article quotes our environmental coalition ally:

Some people who called into Tuesday’s meeting suggested Palisades’ aging steam generator system needed more than just tube repairs.

“Sleeving … prioritizes short-term savings over long-term safety and reliability,” said Kraig Schultz, who lives in Southwest Michigan and is a member of the group Michigan Safe Energy Future.

Schultz and others said they believed the ultimate problem is not with the tubes, but the aging steam generators themselves. They suggested Holtec is avoiding replacing the whole system because doing so would be too costly, and take too much time.);

WWMT TV-3 Kalamazoo (although the linked article does not quote or mention the resistance to Palisades’ restart, TV-3 has reported on our environmental coalition’s resistance many times. Just visit TV-3’s website and search for such coverage by entering <Palisades nuclear> in the search field.)