Repair plan for cracked steam generator tubes at Palisades plant going before NRC soon

[Photograph of steam generator tubes, from the top looking down. Steam generators are very large nuclear components, as big as a school bus. Steam generators are safety-significant: a cascading failure of tubes can lead to a reactor core meltdown. Palisades’ steam generators have needed replacement since at least spring 2006, according to a slideshow presentation made by then-Palisades owner, Consumers Energy, to the Michigan Public Service Commission (see page 2). But the steam generators were not replaced by 2007-2022 owner of Palisades, Entergy — because NRC did not require it. Current Palisades owner Holtec also has no plans to replace the dangerously degraded steam generators.]

As reported by columnist Tom Henry at the Toledo Blade.

An environmental coalition has also intervened against the unprecedented, unneeded, insanely expensive for the public, and extremely risky for health, safety, security, and the environment, zombie reactor restart scheme at Palisades.

The coalition includes Beyond Nuclear, Don’t Waste Michigan, Michigan Safe Energy Future, Nuclear Energy Information Service of Chicago, and Three Mile Island Alert of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Attorneys Terry Lodge of Toledo, Ohio and Wally Taylor of Cedar Rapids, Iowa serve as the coalition’s legal counsel. Arnie Gundersen, chief engineer of Fairewinds, and Dr. Mark Jacobson, Stanford University professor and author, serves as the coalition’s expert witnesses.