Holtec Submits License Application to NRC for the Palisades Twin SMR-300s

• Holtec Submits License Application to NRC for the Palisades Twin SMR-300s
• Palisades Reactor Restart Delayed to 2026
• Illinois Gov Pritzker Signs Bill Removing State’s Ban on New Nuclear Power Plants
• Two New Reports from the Nuclear Innovation Alliance
• Rep. Simpson Secures INL Priorities in Energy and Water Appropriations Bill
• Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Siemens, Nvidia To Develop Fusion Digital Twin
• Chinese Tokamak Achieves Progress in High-density Plasma Operation
• Fusion Industry Association Reviews 2025 Events

Holtec Submits License Application to NRC for the Palisades Twin SMR-300s

Holtec International announced it submitted its first major licensing application to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for the Palisades SMR-300 Units, Pioneer 1 and 2. This major licensing submittal is the first part (Part 1) of an application for a construction permit application (CPA) for a utilization facility under 10 CFR Part 50 to authorize the construction of two SMR-300 small modular reactors. This submittal represents a step up from prelicensing topical reports and white papers that have been submitted thus far.

Part 1 includes a request for a limited work authorization (LWA), multiple exemptions to authorize certain construction activities prior to issuance of a full CPA under Part 2, and a comprehensive environmental report (ER). Holtec has requested that the NRC review and approve its CPA Part 1 by December 31, 2026.

The approval will allow Holtec to begin construction of the dual-unit SMR-300 plant located at the Palisades Energy Center (PEC) in Covert, Michigan. The NRC has officially assigned applicant docket numbers for Palisades SMR-300 Pioneer 1 and 2.

The SMRs are planned to be located adjacent to the Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan. Holtec is restarting the plant after receiving approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to change its status from decommissioning to operating. Construction of the twin SMRs is expected to be completed in the early 2030s.

This major licensing submittal also comes on the heels of many other recent project milestones for the SMR effort in December 2025, which include:

• U.S. DOE Tier 1 $400 Million Award to Accelerate Deployment of Holtec’s Dual-Unit SMR-300 Plant at PEC.
• Submission of Two Significant Licensing Topical Reports (LTRs) to the NRC that marks important significant pioneering advancements in the SMR-300 Civil-Structural design and licensing basis.
• Submission of the SMR-300 Instrumentation and Control Architecture LTR to the NRC.
• The NRC has issued their draft safety evaluation for the SMR-300 Design Basis Accident Radiological Consequences Analysis Methodology LTR.

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Palisades Reactor Restart Delayed to 2026

Plans by Holtec International to restart the single unit 800 MW PWR Palisades unit, located in Covert Township, MI, on the eastern shore of Lake Superior, by the end of 2025 have been postponed to the first quarter in 2026. Even with the delay, if the firm makes its new self-imposed deadline, it will still be the first U.S. nuclear power plant brought back from decommissioning status.

Two other nuclear power plants, Crane Clean Energy Center in Pennsylvania and Duane Arnold in Iowa, are also being restarted by their respective utility owners and operators. The Crane site is expected back online in 2027. Duane Arnold is targeting late 2028 or early 2029 for its expected restart date.

The apparent reason for the delay at the Palisades site is continuing work on the steam generating system. In 2024 the inspection of the steam generator identified a large number of the tubes had defects including cracks in them. Holtec’s corrective action is to insert sleeves in the damaged tubes which addresses the problems with them. Holtec confirmed in press statements that completion of this work and other unspecified project actions are the reason for the delay.

Critics of the restart, a coalition of anti-nuclear groups led by Beyond Nuclear said the delay was caused by “false confidence” on the part of Holtec. On 06/20/25 the NRC denied Beyond Nuclear’s petition to stop the restart of the reactor. In a 25-page finding (ML25171A153) the agency declined to accept any of the group’s contentions. In its report the NRC said Beyond Nuclear’s submission failed to meet the legal tests for a new hearing on the license.

The groups subsequently filed a lawsuit in Federal District Court for Western Michigan challenging the NRC’s approval of Holtec’s Palisades restart Exemption Requestor to proceed with the restart effort. A wire service report that the lawsuit was dismissed referred to a separate action that was withdrawn by Beyond Nuclear.

Other major milestones have been achieved in the restart of the Palisades reactor;

• In August the NRC changed the status of the plant from “decommissioning” to “operational” status.
• In September, the Department of Energy issues the sixth loan disbursement which is part of a $1.5 billion loan.
• In October the plant received 68 fuel assemblies which have been securely stored until the NRC authorizes it to be loaded in the reactor core.

According to nuclear trade press reports, major equipment restoration work is underway. Reassembly of the main turbine generator is progressing following more than a year of inspection, testing, and maintenance work. The plant also recently received and installed the second of two fully refurbished primary coolant pump motors

At the time it was taken out of service, Palisades was licensed to operate until 2031. Holtec notified the NRC last year that it intends to apply for a second, or subsequent, license renewal for the plant during the first quarter of 2026. This would extend the plant’s operating period by a further 20 years, to 2051.

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Illinois Gov Pritzker Signs Bill Removing State’s Ban on New Nuclear Power Plants

Senate Bill 25, the Clean and Reliable Grid Affordability Act, or CRGA, lifts a decades long ban on new large-scale nuclear power plants. The bill signing by Illinois Governor J. B. Pritzker takes place following a report by state regulators that project energy shortfalls that could drive up costs in the next three to five years and force Illinois to import more power from out of state absent action from lawmakers and grid operators.

CRGA ends a longstanding ban on constructing new large-scale nuclear power plants. Illinois had previously lifted a ban on small, modular reactors (SMRs). This bill removes a legislative barrier to large-scale facilities. The bill goes into effect in June 2026.

The ANS Newswire noted that Pritzker’s signing of this legislation represented a shift from his August 2023 veto of a bill that would have lifted the state’s large reactor moratorium. At that time, he condemned that bill for “open[ing] the door to the proliferation of large-scale nuclear reactors that are so costly to build that they will cause exorbitant ratepayer-funded bailouts.”

As governors in other states, like California, know, rolling brownouts and electricity backouts are sure predictors of being voted out of office in the next election. Apparently, the Illinois governor changed his mind in approving the new Senate bill that authorizes new large reactors.

In Illinois so far two large nuclear reactors have moved from operating to decommissioning status – Zion 1 & 2. None of the 11 operating reactors in Illinois are at risk at this time of being shut down for economic or technical reasons. Except for the two BWRs at Qaud Cities, the other nine plants have license extensions that take their service lives many years into the future.

Nuclear Power in Illinois; Meta PPA Insures a Long Life for the Clinton Plant

Illinois has the largest number of nuclear reactors of any state. It’s “fleet” consists of 11 large reactors. The combined power for all units is 11 GW. All of them are owned and operated by Constellation.

In June 2025 Constellation (NASDAQ:CEG) and Meta signed a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for the output of the Clinton Clean Energy Center to support Meta’s energy needs for its data center operations in the region.

Beginning in June of 2027, the agreement supports the relicensing and continued operations of Constellation’s Clinton nuclear facility for another two decades. This deal will expand Clinton’s clean energy output by 30 MW through plant uprates.

In December 2025 the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) renewed the operating licence of Constellation’s Clinton-1 for an additional 20 years beyond its current expiration date of 2026. The NRC said the renewed licence for Clinton-1 will now run until April 2047. The review covered safety and environmental issues and was supported by a safety evaluation and a final supplemental environmental impact statement issued in August 2025.

With the guarantee that Clinton will continue to run for another two decades, Constellation is also evaluating strategies to extend the plant’s existing early site permit or seek a new construction permit from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to pursue development of an advanced nuclear reactor or small modular reactor (SMR) at the Clinton Clean Energy Center site. An Early Site Permit, once issued by the NRC, has a 20-year shelf life.

Separately, in Illinois Dresden Unit 1 is currently in decommisioning status. Two commercial nuclear power reactors at Zion were decommissioned, and now only the ISFSI (Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation) pad remains.

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Two New Reports from the Nuclear Innovation Alliance

These are two new reports which cover nuclear energy developments to provide heat and power for military facilities in the U.S. and also assess DOE and DOD regulatory authorities for develolpment of reactors, outside of NRC licensing, for R&D projects and for military uses. Click on the indicated links to download these reports.

Briefing on New Nuclear Reactors for Military Purposes

The U.S. government has substantial efforts underway to develop new nuclear reactors for military purposes. Recent executive orders, together with congressional mandates, establish a coordinated strategy that links national security with mission assurance.

This new NIA publication outlines the federal policy framework and the projects, concepts, and solicitations underway to translate policy direction and statutory authority into operational capability. It further provides a comprehensive guide to the concepts and initiatives the government is pursuing to develop new nuclear reactors for military purposes. 

U.S. Federal Oversight of Nuclear Reactors Across NRC, DOE and DoD.

This report, written by NIA Fellow Rama T. Ponangi and NIA Program Manager Brittany Lutz, summarizes the roles and responsibilities of three federal agencies in conducting oversight of nuclear reactors in the U.S.

Federal oversight of nuclear reactors in the United States sits at the complex intersection of law, national security imperatives, and civilian regulatory independence. This brief examines the legal and historical context of federal oversight, tracing the statutes that assign authority for NRC to license and regulate commercial nuclear reactors, DOE to “authorize” nuclear reactors for research activities, and DoD to permit the operation of nuclear reactors for military use. It also explores interagency interfaces, agreements, and delegations, which shape the coordination of nuclear reactor oversight.

In this report, NIA recommends a concerted effort by all three agencies to ensure that technically mature, new nuclear reactor concepts are deployed with appropriate federal oversight and regulatory clarity to inspire public confidence.

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Rep. Simpson Secures INL Priorities in Energy and Water Appropriations Bill

The United States House of Representatives has passed H.R. 6938, the Commerce, Justice, Science; Energy and Water Development; and Interior and Environment Appropriations Act, 2026. Idaho Congressman Mike Simpson supported this advancement and secured critical funding for the Idaho National Laboratory (INL).

“The Idaho National Laboratory is a world leader in nuclear energy research and a hub for remarkable advancements in nuclear technologies,” said Rep. Simpson.

“INL has long worked to advance America’s nuclear technology and strengthen our national security, and I have been proud to support their efforts in Congress. I am confident that the future of nuclear energy is bright under President Trump and Secretary Wright. As a longtime member and former Chairman of this critical subcommittee, I am pleased to see this legislation expand America’s nuclear capabilities and address the future of nuclear energy.”

“Nuclear energy is experiencing unprecedented momentum, and we deeply appreciate the strong bipartisan support from Congress that has made this possible,” said Idaho National Laboratory Director John Wagner.

“We extend our special thanks to U.S. Representative Mike Simpson for his longstanding championship of nuclear energy and his unwavering commitment to Idaho National Laboratory. His leadership has been instrumental in positioning the laboratory at the forefront of America’s nuclear resurgence.”

Highlights of the bill include:

• Provides funding for INL’s infrastructure and operations.
• Provides funding for INL’s Microreactor Application Research Validation and Evaluation (MARVEL) project.
• Provides funding for the Demonstration of Microreactor Experiments (DOME) Test Bed at INL.
• Funding for a variety of advanced reactor construction and demonstrations.
• Funding for further research and development of advanced Tri-structural Isotropic (TRISO) and High-Assay Low Enriched Uranium (HALEU) reactor fuel.
• Funding for the Idaho Cleanup Project on the INL Site.

House and Senate negotiators released the legislation earlier this week. The package includes funding for science initiatives and the Departments of Commerce and Justice; energy and water development; and the Department of Interior and the EPA.

The measure was approved in the House with a vote of 397-28. The Senate is expected to take up the package as soon as next week. The House and Senate are racing to avoid another government shutdown. This bill is part of that effort.

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Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Siemens, Nvidia To Develop Fusion Digital Twin

• Project will use AI and data tools to accelerate path to commercial reactors

(NucNet) Commonwealth Fusion Systems (CFS) has announced plans to collaborate with technology companies Nvidia and Siemens to develop a digital twin of its Sparc prototype fusion machine.

During a keynote address at the CES technology show in Las Vegas, NV, on 01/06/26. In it the two firms said that their work will apply artificial intelligence (AI) and data and project management tools to accelerate commercial fusion.

• The digital twin will use data from the Siemens Xcelerator portfolio of industrial software, which includes the Designcenter NX for advanced product engineering, along with Teamcenter product lifecycle management (PLM) tools.
• CFS uses those tools to create, catalogue, and process machine designs and assemblies. The designs and assemblies can then be used in CFS’s modelling and simulation workflows.
• CFS will use Nvidia Omniverse libraries and OpenUSD to integrate data with classical and AI-powered physics models to create the digital twin of Sparc.

This virtual replica of the Sparc fusoin machne will provide CFS with a user-friendly way to run simulations, test hypotheses, and quickly compare the experimental results from the machine to the simulations. This ability to rapidly analyse data and iterate “will speed CFS’ efforts to make fusion energy a commercial reality”, the statement said.

Compressing Years of Work Into Weeks

“CFS will be able to compress years of manual experimentation into weeks of virtual optimization using the digital infrastructure developed by Nvidia and Siemens,” said Bob Mumgaard, co-founder and chief executive officer of CFS.

“Through this collaboration, we’re demonstrating how AI and integrated digital engineering can accelerate progress from design to grid power. This will allow us to transform how we build and operate fusion machines in the race to commercial fusion.”

CFS is also using Siemens’ digital tools to improve the efficiency of its manufacturing processes and operations at the company’s magnet factory in Devens, Massachusetts.

Del Costy, president and managing director, Americas, Siemens Digital Industries Software, said: “Fusion is complex, but data doesn’t lie. When you aggregate real manufacturing intelligence, apply AI, and run thousands of scenarios, you remove guesswork and accelerate innovation. This is the future of industrial engineering.”

 Target Is For First Plasma This Year

CFS, which is backed by Bill Gates’s technology fund Breakthrough Energy Ventures, is working to produce energy through a tokamak fusion process using high-temperature superconducting magnets developed in collaboration with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The company is building the Sparc prototype fusion machine at its headquarters in Devens, MA. Sparc is a compact, high-field, net fusion energy device that would be the size of existing mid-sized fusion devices, but with a much stronger magnetic field. It is predicted to produce 50-100 MW of fusion power.

Sparc is expected to produce its first plasma in 2026 and net fusion energy shortly after, demonstrating for the first time a design that will produce more power than consumed.

Technology giant Google has already agreed to buy power from the CFS Arc power plant being planned in Virginia. The 400-MW Arc could be the world’s first grid-scale fusion power plant, CFS has said.

CFS, founded in 2018 and spun out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has raised nearly $3 billion in funding from investors. The company raised $863 million in its latest funding round, with support from NVentures, Nvidia’s venture capital arm.

What is a Tokamak?

A tokamak is a machine that confines a plasma using magnetic fields in a donut shape that scientists call a torus. Fusion energy scientists believe that tokamaks are the leading plasma confinement concept for future fusion power plants.

Image: EuroFusion via U.S. Department of Energy

In a tokamak, magnetic field coils confine plasma particles to allow the plasma to achieve the conditions necessary for fusion. One set of magnetic coils generates an intense “toroidal” field, directed the long way around the torus. A central solenoid (a magnet that carries electric current) creates a second magnetic field directed along the “poloidal” direction, the short way around the torus. The two field components result in a twisted magnetic field that confines the particles in the plasma. A third set of field coils generates an outer poloidal field that shapes and positions the plasma.

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Chinese Tokamak Achieves Progress in High-density Plasma Operation

(WNN) Experiments at China’s Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak have confirmed the existence of “a density-free region” of the tokamak, finding a method to break through the density limit and providing important physical evidence for the high-density operation of magnetic confinement fusion devices.

A tokamak device is a toroidal device that uses magnetic confinement to achieve controlled nuclear fusion, resembling a spiral ‘magnetic track’ that locks in high-temperature plasma to achieve nuclear fusion. Plasma density is one of the key parameters of tokamak performance, directly affecting the fusion reaction rate.

In the past, researchers discovered that there is a limit to plasma density, referred to as the Greenwald density limit; once this limit is reached, the plasma breaks up and escapes the magnetic field confinement, releasing enormous energy into the inner wall of the device, affecting safe operation.

Through long-term research, the international fusion community has discovered that the physical process triggering the density limit occurs in the boundary region between the plasma and the inner wall of the device, but the underlying physical mechanism is not fully understood.

A team at the Institute of Plasma Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ASIPP) in Hefei, Anhui Province, developed a theoretical model of boundary plasma-wall interaction self-organization (PWSO), discovering the crucial role of boundary radiation in density limit triggering and revealing the triggering mechanism of the density limit.

Utilizing the all-metal wall operating environment of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST) – known as the ‘artificial sun’ – they reduced boundary impurity sputtering by employing methods such as electron cyclotron resonance heating and pre-charged synergistic start-up, actively delaying the occurrence of the density limit and plasma breakup.

By controlling the physical conditions of the target plate, they reduced tungsten impurity-dominated physical sputtering, controlling the plasma to break through the density limit and guiding it into a new density-free region.

The team said the experimental results highly agree with PWSO theoretical predictions, confirming for the first time the existence of the density-free region in a tokamak. This innovative work provides important clues for understanding the density limit and offers crucial physical evidence for high-density tokamak operation.

In the experiments, EAST achieved line-averaged electron density in the range of 1.3 to 1.65 Greenwald density limit.

In a statement issued through Chinese state controlled media, the researchers said, “These results demonstrate the potential of a practical scheme for substantially increasing the density limit in tokamaks, which is also germane to the stellarator start-up … the breaking of Greenwald density limit and the successful access to the density-free regime as demonstrated in this work opens a promising path advancing toward achieving the fusion ignition condition.”

This work – the results of which were published in Science Advances – was a collaborative effort by the Institute of Plasma Physics, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, and Aix-Marseille University, and was supported by the National Magnetic Confinement Fusion Project. A 01/01/26 report by Phys Org provides additional details.

The successful completion of this work benefited from EAST’s advanced all-metal wall experimental platform and its open collaborative proposal coordination mechanism. The precise diagnostic measurements of density, temperature, radiation, and impurities developed by the EAST device in recent years, as well as the efficient electron cyclotron resonance heating method, have provided important technical support for the work in this field.

Since starting operation in 2006, EAST has been an open test platform for Chinese and international scientists to conduct fusion-related experiments and research.

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Fusion Industry Association Reviews 2025 Events

The Fusion Industry Association (FIA) represents nearly five dozen U.S. developers of fusion machines as well as suppliers to these developers. Based in Washington, DC, the trade group represents its members before Congress and to the Department of Energy. This report is about the FIA’s year-end summary of significant events affectint its members. The video below highlights the five top things that happened in fusion energy in the U.S. in 2025.

Across the fusion industry, we continue to see scientific and technological advances that are moving commercialization closer. At the same time, policy and regulatory developments are laying the groundwork to ensure that when fusion is ready, it can be deployed at speed.

This year reinforced a critical shift: fusion is evolving from a primarily technical pursuit into an emerging energy industry. Private investment surpassed $10 billion as companies demonstrated credible routes to market. Governments expanded national fusion programs, regulators provided long-awaited clarity, major energy users expanded direct engagement, and the global fusion workforce continued to grow. Together, these developments point to a sector steadily building the technical, financial, and institutional foundations needed for success.

Video – A compilation of the top Fusion News stories from 2025, plus an overview of the year’s major industry and policy advances by FIA CEO Andrew Holland. Thanks for tuning in with us all year! (10 min on YouTube)

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