The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has approved a request from Palisades to use custom equipment and procedures to lift one tilted fuel assembly out of the reactor core and carry it to the spent fuel pool. The approval was granted on Oct. 13, 2026, and the agency announced it the next day. The commission’s review concluded that the job can be carried out safely and in compliance with its rules.
The decision matters because Palisades, a Michigan reactor shut down in 2022 and now being prepared to run again, cannot finish loading its core while one assembly sits at an angle among the others. Approval answers a regulatory question. It does not by itself say when the lift will happen, and the release gives no schedule.
NRC license amendment for the tilted assembly
The NRC’s announcement describes a license amendment request from the plant’s operator, Holtec. The amendment covers the use of custom equipment and procedures to move a single tilted nuclear fuel assembly from the core to the spent fuel pool. In the agency’s words, its review found that the work “can be carried out safely and in compliance with NRC regulatory requirements.” The page names no official and quotes no one, and it does not explain why the assembly is tilted.
The gap is filled partly by earlier reporting. An account in The National, published Oct. 9, says the assembly tipped on Aug. 30 during refueling at the reactor in Covert, Michigan, according to the NRC, and that the NRC said no radiation was released. Holtec, which bought the plant after it closed, confirmed the incident several weeks later.
Holtec’s retrieval plan and the questions around it
According to the same report, Holtec describes the assembly as sitting at a 30-degree angle from the core plate and says its fuel rods retained their integrity as a primary barrier against the release of fission products. The NRC had questioned the assembly’s condition, noting significant bowing, and Holtec answered that its fuel vendor expects the assembly to straighten without risk of cladding failure inside the transfer canister. The plan is to grip the assembly with a specially designed recovery tool, place it in a protective canister and move it to the pool. Holtec’s Sept. 30 amendment request stated that the work involves no significant increase in the probability of an accident, and the company says a root cause evaluation has begun.
Critics have pressed harder. Don’t Waste Michigan, an environmental group, argues that the retrieval has never been done anywhere and that Holtec has never operated a nuclear plant, and it warns that highly irradiated fuel could be out of water for up to 133 hours. Arnie Gundersen, a nuclear engineer who advises the group, says Holtec wants the bundle removed to speed up refueling and that the company has provided no root cause analysis or evaluation of any damage the bundle may have caused inside the reactor. Those are claims by opponents. The NRC’s approval is the agency’s own judgment that the lift can be done safely.
Holtec’s Palisades restart timeline
Palisades last operated in 2022. An American Nuclear Society report from July said major restart projects were finished, that Holtec counted more than 5,000 remaining work activities, and that no firm restart date had been set after a February 2026 target passed. Kris Singh, Holtec’s founder and chief executive, told the Financial Times he expected a restart this year, ahead of a power supply contract due by March 2027. Jason Stairs, a Holtec shift outage manager quoted in the same report, said the company’s focus remained on safely completing the remaining work required to prepare for fuel load, and Holtec has said the plant will restart when it is ready for long-term operations. Those statements predate the tipped assembly, which now sits squarely in the path of that preparation.
New fuel has been on site for some time: Holtec announced in October 2025 that the plant had received 68 new assemblies, as World Nuclear News reported. The National reports that fuel loading was paused after the August incident while other restart work that does not depend on the fuel-loading issue continues. Removing the tilted assembly is therefore a gating item, though neither the NRC release nor the reporting says it is the only one.
A second NRC action the same week
The agency issued a separate Palisades document one day earlier. A chilling effect letter to Holtec, dated Oct. 13, found a chilled work environment in the company’s Supply Chain and Quality Assurance departments. It involves no violations or significant plant safety issues, according to the NRC, which said the findings are not expected to affect the planned restart.
The two actions answer different questions. One concerns whether a specific, unusual task can be done safely. The other concerns whether employees feel free to raise concerns about work like it. Both bear on a plant that has not generated power for more than four years, and both will be tested when the assembly is actually moved.
This article was produced with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Morning Overview editors prior to publication.
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