Efforts are ongoing to restart the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert.

During an open house meeting Wednesday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission discussed recent progress and licensing reviews.

The NRC’s Jason Kozel provided an overview of the status with a focus on the inspection process related to the steam generators.

“So that work is ongoing,” Kozel says. “There is active work on site for the actual repair of steam generators. They’re doing a lot of preparatory work and testing in preparation for the actual sleeping work that will take place later in the year. That is a activity to bring the steam generators back into compliance where they will be able to be used at 100% power.”

The panel also reviewed findings from an environmental assessment that was completed at the end of January. The assessment looked at the potential environmental impacts once the plant is in operation. Jamie Pelton from the NRC shared the details of those findings.

“They found that the instances of cancer rates in the local area are not different than the region and that it’s unlikely that any emissions from the nuclear plant would contribute to an increased cancer rate,” Pelton says.

Kozel outlined the next steps which include ongoing inspections and an operating license review this summer. Holtec has said it hopes to restart the plant this fall.