Environment

Michigan nuclear plant shows the challenges the U.S. will face in safely restarting old reactors

Published

3 days ago

March 22, 2025

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The Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan, Feb. 24, 2025.

Spencer Kimball | CNBC

COVERT, Mich. — A nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan is aiming to make history this fall by becoming the first reactor in the U.S. to restart operations after shutting down to be eventually dismantled.

The effort to restart the Palisades plant near South Haven, which shut down three years ago, is a precedent-setting event that could pave a path for other shuttered reactors to come back online.

But Palisades needs major repairs to restart safely, highlighting the challenges the industry will face in bringing aging plants back to life.

Palisades began commercial operations in 1971 during the early wave of reactor construction in the U.S. The plant permanently ceased operations in 2022, one of a dozen reactors to close in recent years as nuclear energy has struggled to compete against cheaper natural gas and renewables.

The owner of the plant, Holtec International, has said it hopes to restart Palisades this fall, subject to approval by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. The restart project is backed by a $1.5 billion loan guarantee from the Department of Energy, $1.3 billion from the Department of Agriculture, and $300 million in grants from the state of Michigan.

The Energy Department on Monday approved the release of nearly $57 million from the loan, a sign that the Trump administration supports the project amid the turmoil and uncertainty in Washington over federal funding for projects started under the Biden administration.

But Holtec is facing major repairs to Palisades’ aging steam generators that could delay a schedule the NRC has called demanding. Holtec has disclosed to regulators that its inspections have found damaged tubes in the plant’s two generators, which were installed in 1990.

Inside the control room at the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan, Feb. 24, 2025.

Spencer Kimball | CNBC

Those tubes are crucial components that protect public health. If a tube ruptures at a nuclear plant, there is a risk that radioactive material will be released into the environment, according to the NRC. Plant owners are required to demonstrate to the NRC that if a tube does fail, any radiological release beyond the plant’s perimeter would remain below what the regulator describes as its “conservative limits.”

“The NRC is scared to death of steam generator tube ruptures. It’s a very real accident. It’s not a hypothetical,” said Alan Blind, who served as engineering director at Palisades from 2006 to 2013 under previous plant owner Entergy. Blind, who is now retired, said he supports nuclear power but is concerned about the condition of the Palisades plant based on decades of experience in the industry.

Palisades is currently in a safe condition, NRC spokesperson Scott Burnell said, as the steam generators are not in use because the plant is shut down and defueled.

Holtec President Kelly Trice told CNBC the company has done a “complete characterization” of the generators and “they are fully repairable.” The company has asked the NRC to complete its review of the repair plan by Aug. 15, but federal regulators are skeptical of the company’s timetable.

NRC Branch Chief Steve Bloom warned Holtec during a Jan. 14 public meeting that the work required to review the plan will “add to a schedule that is already very aggressive.” Eric Reichelt, a senior materials engineer at the NRC, called the schedule “very demanding,” telling Holtec at the meeting that only a few people are available at the regulatory body to do the necessary review work.

Steam generator repairs

In nuclear plants such as Palisades, water heated by the reactor passes through tubes in the generators, causing water outside the tubes to boil into steam that drives the turbines to produce electricity for the grid.

The radioactive water that circulates through the reactor and the clean water that boils in the generators do not come into contact with each other. If a tube ruptures, however, the contaminated water mixes with the clean water and radioactive material could be released into the environment through valves that discharge steam, according to the NRC.

Holtec’s inspections found more than 1,400 indications of corrosion cracking across more than 1,000 steam generator tubes at Palisades, according to a company filing with the NRC in October 2024. The tubes have not failed, Holtec CEO Krishna Singh told CNBC in February. Several had corrosion cracking with more than 70% penetration, according to the filing.

Due to the plant’s age, Palisades steam generator tubes are made of an alloy that the industry has since learned is prone to corrosion cracking, according to NRC. Holtec said it is using a technique to repair the tubes called “sleeving” in which a higher quality alloy is inserted and expanded to seal the damage.

Inside the control room at the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan, Feb. 24, 2025.

Spencer Kimball | CNBC

“The techniques of repair which we’re using, which is called sleeving, has been done in about 10 plants across the world and in some plants is done every outage, so this is not new, exotic technology,” Trice said. “It is a common repair technique, and we expect it to be done on time and on schedule.”

Holtec’s repair plan is scheduled to start this summer following inspection and testing, spokesperson Nick Culp told CNBC. Holtec can go ahead with the tube repairs on its schedule, but the company does so at its own risk as the NRC will decide whether the repairs meet requirements in the end, Burnell said.

But during the Jan. 14 meeting, NRC branch chief Bloom pushed back on Holtec’s statements that the company’s repair plan is following industry precedent.

“Even though you’re quote, unquote, following a precedent, it’s not exactly, because it’s a different material, different type of sleeving,” Bloom said at the January meeting. The sleeve design that Holtec is proposing for the repairs has not been installed in steam generators before, though it has been used in other heat exchangers at nuclear plants, according to a company filing.

The sleeves are made of an alloy that has not shown signs of cracking in U.S. or international plants, according to the filing. The component has a service life of no more than 10 years, the filing said. Culp said testing and analysis of the sleeves “support the expectation of longer-term performance.”

The issues with the tubes raise the question of whether the aging steam generators should be replaced, an expensive project that Palisades’ previous owners knew would be necessary at some point but never tackled.

Inside the control room at the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan, Feb. 24, 2025.

Spencer Kimball | CNBC

Consumers Energy, for example, sold the Palisades to Entergy in 2007 for $380 million in part due to “significant capital expenditures that are required for the plant,” including the replacement of the steam generators, according to a filing with the Michigan Public Service Commission.

Consumers Energy assumed that the generators needed to be replaced in 2016, according to the filing. Entergy, however, did not replace them after purchasing Palisades. The utility found that purchasing new generators would make the plant economically unfeasible, said Blind, who was engineering director at Palisades during that time.

“They felt that with their expertise that they could prolong the remaining life, which is exactly what they did up until they shut it down,” Blind said.

Entergy closed Palisades in May 2022 and sold the plant to Holtec to take over its dismantling. But Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a letter to the Department of Energy pushed to keep Palisades open, citing the jobs supported by the plant and the need for reliable, carbon-free power. Backed by the governor’s office, Holtec first applied for federal support to restart Palisades two months after it closed.

Indian Point leak

A steam generator tube rupture at the Indian Point nuclear plant — located 24 miles north of New York City in Westchester County, New York — demonstrates the potential risks such incidents pose to public health and the finances of utility companies.

On Feb. 15, 2000, operators at Indian Point Unit 2 received a notification that a steam generator tube had failed, according to the NRC’s report on the incident. Consolidated Edison issued an alert and shut the plant down, the regulator said. It would stay closed for 11 months while the cause of the rupture was investigated and the condition of the four steam generators was analyzed.

The rupture resulted in “a minor radiological release to the environment that was well within regulatory limits,” according to an NRC task force report. The incident “did not impact the public health and safety,” according to the report. Still, the NRC slapped Con Edison with a red citation, the most serious violation, after determining the leak was of “high safety significance.”

The leak was contained and there was no evacuation of neighboring communities, but authorities in Westchester County at the time were deeply worried about the risk to the public, said Blind, who was Con Edison’s vice president of nuclear power at Indian Point during the incident.

Inside the Palisades nuclear power plant in Covert, Michigan, Feb. 24, 2025.

Spencer Kimball | CNBC

“We had contained all of the radioactive water, but they were so scared that they were very close to closing all the schools,” said Blind. “They weren’t going to let the children come to school in the morning until they saw how this all played out. It’s all very serious.”

The leak proved costly for Con Edison. The utility replaced the four steam generators at an estimated cost of up to $150 million, according to company filings from the time. The bill would have been higher had Con Edison not had replacement steam generators already on hand. The utility had owned replacement generators since 1988 but had not installed them. Con Edison also paid more than $130 million in charges associated with the 11-month outage at the plant.

Blind said Con Edison decided to replace the steam generators at Indian Point to reduce the risk that there would be another tube rupture when the plant restarted.

“We were a publicly traded company,” Blind said. “And it came down from the board, it said we can’t live with this uncertainty.”

The utility sold Indian Point Units 1 and 2 to Entergy for $502 million in 2001 under a deal that also included gas turbine assets. The sale was under consideration before the tube rupture. Con Edison estimated an after-tax loss of $170 million from the Indian Point sale, according to filings from the time.

Blind said the stakes of the planned Palisades restart are high for the entire nuclear industry. Demand for nuclear power is growing again in the U.S. as states, utilities and the tech sector seek more reliable, carbon-free power. The renewed interest has been referred to as a “nuclear renaissance” after years of reactor shutdowns in the U.S.

Constellation Energy, for example, is planning to restart its Three Mile Island plant in 2028 subject to NRC approval. Constellation has said the steam generators at the plant have undergone inspection and maintenance and are in good condition. NextEra Energy announced in July 2024 that it is evaluating whether restarting its Duane Arnold plant in Iowa is feasible.

An incident at Palisades “would be devastating for the entire industry,” Blind said. “There would be calls for rethinking this renaissance idea,” he said.

Holtec’s Culp said the sleeves used to repair the steam generators at Palisades will be continuously monitored, inspected and subject to regulatory oversight while they are in service. The plant employs multiple layers of defense “to protect our workforce, community, and environment,” he said.

NRC inspectors will observe Holtec’s repair activities as they are implemented and will ensure the steam generators meet all the requirements for safe operation, Burnell said. “This includes making sure that the public and the environment are protected from radiological concerns,” the NRC spokesman said.

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Environment

All the EVs (and PHEVs) you can buy with 0% financing in March 2025 [update]

Published

2 hours ago

March 25, 2025

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All the EVs (and PHEVs) you can buy with 0% financing in March 2025 [update]

All the EVs (and one PHEV) you can buy with 0% financing in March 2025

Lease deals get all the hype, but most people still want to own the car after they’re done making all those payments on it. If that sounds like you, and you’ve been waiting for the interest rates on auto loans to drop, you’re in luck: there are a bunch of great plug-in cars you can buy with 0% financing this March … and that includes a zero percent Tesla deal!

UPDATE: a fancy crossover and popular off-road SUV make the list!

I’ve done a couple of these now, so you probably already know that there were plenty of ways for me to present this information. “Best EVs ..?” Too opinion based. “Cheapest EVs ..?” Too much research. In the end, I went with alphabetical order, by make. And, as for which deals are new this month? You’re just gonna have to read the article. Enjoy!

Acura ZDX

The 2024 Acura ZDX uses a GM Ultium battery and drive motors, but the styling, interior, and infotainment software are all Honda. That means you’ll get a solidly-built EV with GM levels of parts support and Honda levels of fit, finish, and quality control. All that plus Apple CarPlay and 0% financing for up to 72 months makes the ZDX one the best sporty crossover deals in the business.

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All the electric Chevy EVs (again)

EV batteries Stanford — Silverado EV, Equinox EV, and Blazer EV at a Tesla Supercharger; via GM.

For the second month in a row, Chevrolet is offering 0% financing for up to 60 months on all three of its Ultium-based EVs – and they’re all winners. The Silverado is an incredibly capable pickup that can be spec’ed up to a 10,500 lb. GVWR, making it eligible for Class 3 incentives up to $30,000 in some markets and capable enough to tow whatever horse, boat, or RV you put behind it.

On the crossover side, both the Chevy Blazer EV and Equinox EV each offer their own takes on the five-passenger family SUV, with the cost of base model Equinox LT FWD models with 319 miles of EPA-rated range dropping to just $27,500 after you apply the $7,500 Federal tax credit (which, for now, is still a thing).

Dodge Charger EV

As the auto industry transitions to electric, Dodge is hoping that at least a few muscle car enthusiasts with extra cash, will find their way to a Dodge store and ask for the meanest, loudest, tire-shreddingest thing on the lot.

These days, that’s the new electric Charger – and you still owed money on the Hemi you just totaled, Dodge will help get the deal done on its latest retrotastic ride with a $3,000 rebate plus 0% financing for up to 72 months!

Ford Mustang Mach-E

This month, you can get a killer deal on a new 2024 Ford Mustang Mach-E (shown, above). Through March 31st, you can get $2,500 in bonus cash, a free L2 home charger installed, plus 0% financing for up to 72 months. Tesla owners can also get an additional $1,000 in conquest cash, bringing the hood money total to $3,500.

Ford also announced a 0% financing deal plus $4,000 in bonus cash on the F-150 Lightning pickup, while Ford Pro customers buying an F-150 Lightning for their commercial or public fleet can get even better deals on the OG electric trucks.

GMC Hummer and Sierra Denali EV

2025 GMC SIERRA EV DENALI — 2024 GMC Sierra Denali EV; via GM.

The biggest Ultium-based EVs from GM’s commercial truck brand are seriously impressive machines, with shockingly quick acceleration and on-road handling that seems to defy the laws of physics once you understand that these are, essentially, medium-duty trucks. This month, GMC is doing its best to move out its existing inventory of 2024s, so if you’re a fan of heavy metal you’ll definitely want to stop by your local GMC dealer and give the Hummer EV and Sierra Denali EV a test drive.

Honda Prologue

Honda-Pologue-2025 — 2024 Honda Prologue; via Honda.

Despite the Honda Prologue was one of the top-selling electric crossovers last year by combining GM’s excellent Ultium platform with Honda sensibilities and Apple CarPlay, Honda upgraded the 2025 model with slightly more EPA range. Even so, there’s still some remaining 2024 inventory out there and dealers are ready to deal (that’s what they do, after all). To make room for the 2025 models, Honda is offering 0% APR for up to 72 months on the remaining 2024s.

Hyundai IONIQ 5

Hyundai is still offering 0% financing for 60 months on all versions of the hot-selling 2024 IONIQ 5 crossover, making it hard to overlook in the five-passenger segment. It’s worth noting that Hyundai is also offering the 5 with $7,500 bonus cash in select markets, but that offer can’t be stacked with the 0%, so do some math before deciding which way you want to go.

Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe

I have, admittedly, never spent a lot of time in the latest iteration of Jeep’s Grad Cherokee. Once upon a time, I drove a ZJ GC with the immortal and buttery-smooth 4.0L inline six and every iteration since has, in my opinion, been a step in the wrong direction. I’d still prefer a ZJ, sure, but after a week spent behind the wheel of a white-on-black 2025 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4xe, I have come around. That interior is a nice place to be, whether that’s because of Mercedes’ influence or Fiat’s or Peugeot’s is less clear – but shouldn’t take away from the experience.

If you haven’t given the latest JGC a chance, yet, know that its 17.3 kWh 400 V lithium-ion is big enough to go 26 miles on pure electric power, with “just” two hours needed on a L2 port to get you back to 100% charge and US News is reporting 0% financing deals on the popular SUV for up to 72 months all month long.

All the Kia EVs

Kia’s EV6 and EV9 have been grabbing headlines and setting sales records sine the Kia EV6 shocked the world, making its global debut on a drag strip where the car ran against a Lamborghini, a Porsche, and an AMG Mercedes (and won). This month, however, it’s the Kia Niro EV’s turn to shine thanks to 0% financing on the fun, compact urban runabout for up to 60 months.

The Niro’s bigger siblings are getting the 0% treatment, too, for a longer 72 month term.

Lexus RZ

The Lexus RZ got more range and more power in its top-of-the-line F Sport trim for 2025, but even with the range bump it only offers 266 miles of EPA estimated range in the RZ 300e version with 18″ wheels. That number drops to just 224 miles on the same model with 20″ wheels. (!?)

That said, 200 miles of range is probably more than enough for 360 of any given year’s 365 days. If you can live with making an extra stop or two on the other five, you’ll be rewarded with Toyota quality, Lexus levels of fit and finish, and Lexus’ legendary customer service and dealership experience. Combine that with 0% financing for up to 72 months, and the RZ might be a winner after all.

Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV

One of the first three-row plugin cars to hit the market (and a frequent addition to these 0% lists), Mitsubishi’s Outlander PHEV offers up to 38 miles of electric range from its 20 kWh li-ion battery, making it a great “lily pad” vehicle for suburban families who want to drive electric but still worry about being able to find a charging station when they need one.

Nissan Ariya

I’ve already said that the Nissan Ariya didn’t get a fair shake. If you click that link, you’ll read about a car that offers solid driving dynamics, innovative interior design, and all the practicality that makes five-passenger crossovers the must-haves they’ve become for most families. With great discounts available at participating dealers, Supercharger access, and 0% interest from Nissan for up to 72 months, Nissan dealers should have no trouble finding homes for their remaining 2024 Ariya crossovers.

Subaru Soltera

Subaru Solterra — 2023 Subaru Soltera; via Subaru.

Despite being something of a slow seller, this mechanical twin of the Toyota bZ4X EV seems like a solid mid-size electric crossover with some outdoorsy vibes and granola style that offers more than enough utility to carry your mountain bikes to the trail or your kayaks to the river. The company is hoping to help clear out its remaining 2024 models with big discounts and 0% financing for up to 72 months.

Tesla Model 3

Say what you will about Elon Musk – and I say plenty over on the Quick Charge podcast – the fact remains that we wouldn’t be here talking about EVs at all if it wasn’t for his marketing brilliance, bravado, and sheer force of will. Beyond that, Tesla simply offers as superior ownership experience through total software integration, unfettered access to the Supercharger network, and the best EV route-planning software this side of Chargeway.

If you can stomach being associated with Elon (or have an inside line on some spare Honda badges), you can get a new Model 3 for 0% interest or 0.99% with $0 down if you apply the $7,500 Federal tax incentive at the point of purchase.

Volkswagen ID.4

Volkswagen-EVs-in-2023 — VW ID.4; via Volkswagen.

One of the most popular legacy EVs, the ID.4 offers Volkswagen build quality and (for 2024) a Chat-GPT enabled interface. To keep ID.4 sales rolling, VW dealers are getting aggressive with discounts, making this fast-charging, 291 mile EPA-rated range, 5-star safety rated EV a value proposition that’s tough to beat.

This month, get a Volkswagen ID.4 with 0% financing for up to 72 months plus a $5,000 customer cash bonus to stack with it.

Disclaimer: the vehicle models and financing deals above were sourced from CarsDirect, CarEdge, USNews, and (where mentioned) the OEM websites – and were current as of 24MAR2025. These deals may not be available in every market, with every discount, or for every buyer (the standard “with approved credit” fine print should be considered implied). Check with your local dealer(s) for more information.

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Environment

Oil major Shell vows to boost shareholder returns, doubles down on LNG push

Published

6 hours ago

March 25, 2025

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Oil major Shell vows to boost shareholder returns, doubles down on LNG push

A view shows a board with the logo of Shell at the company’s fuel station in Saint Petersburg, Russia May 6, 2022.

Anton Vaganov | Reuters

British oil major Shell on Tuesday announced plans to increase shareholder returns and cut spend, as it doubles down on its liquified natural gas (LNG) push.

In an announcement ahead of its Capital Markets Day 2025 event, the company said it would bolster shareholder distributions to 40-50% of cash flow from operations, up from a 30-40% range previously. It intends to stick to progressive dividends of 4% per year and to grow free cash flow per share by more than a yearly 10% through to 2030.

The oil major also said it will lower its spending to $20-22 billion per year through to 2028, after targeting such costs in a $22-25 billion range for 2024 and 2025 back in 2023.

The oil company separately said it aims to trim its structural cost reduction target from $2-3 billion by the end of this year to a cumulative $5-7 billion by the end of the three-year stretch to the end of 2028, compared with 2022 plans.

Shell — the world’s largest liquified natural gas trader — guided it will grow output across its combined upstream and integrated gas businesses by 1% per year through to 2030, as well as increase LNG sales by 4-5% every year through that period. It will separately keep its oil production steady at 1.4 million barrels per day until the end of the decade.

The company intends to expend 10% of its capital in low-carbon businesses by 2030.

”We want to become the world’s leading integrated gas and LNG business and the most customer-focused energy marketer and trader, while sustaining a material level of liquids production. Today we are raising the bar across our key financial targets, investing where we have competitive strengths and delivering more for our shareholders,” CEO Wael Sawan said in a Tuesday statement.

European oil companies have increasingly battled pressure to review their portfolio strategy in a bid to lock step with shareholder returns offered by majors in the U.S., where White House leader Donald Trump’s administration champions the resurging output of fossil fuels.

Shell has largely outpaced European peers, with shares up 11.3% in the year to date, but most recently notched a sharp drop in annual profit to $23.72 billion for full-year 2024, missing expectations. It announced a 4% hike in dividend per share and launched a $3.5 billion buyback program at the time.

“Shell’s share price has outperformed the peer group handily, and so it should not be a surprise that today’s update reads as more evolution than revolution,” RBC analysts said in a Tuesday note. “At the margin, the guidance looks better than expected, with higher cost reductions, capex guidance coming in lower at the midpoint versus consensus, and higher shareholder returns than anticipated.”

Shell’s stock was up 2% at 8:30 a.m. London time.

Environment

Peugeot asks the question: what if you built a LeMans-inspired cargo van?

Published

13 hours ago

March 25, 2025

admin

Peugeot asks the question: what if you built a LeMans-inspired cargo van?

PEUGEOT UK ANNOUNCES NEW MOTORSPORT-INSPIRED EXPERT SPORT VAN

Peugeot UK says its new E-EXPERT SPORT electric cargo van was inspired by the brand’s rich motorsport pedigree, and the desire to bring that racing heritage to the everyday working professional. And let’s face it, kids – if a fat-tired and bespoilered European cargo van doesn’t excite you, I don’t know what will!

Built on the Peugeot LCV cargo van, the new E-EXPERT SPORT adds a unique body kit that, “reflects its sporty nature,” with a front lip spoiler and side skirts that provide the sporty van with an athletic and aggressive stance.

The E-EXPERT SPORT also adds a special “Kryptonite” livery applied to the van’s sides, grille, upholstery, and unique badging on both the inside and outside of the van. That part’s essential, since your plumber may have forgotten he paid a bunch of extra money for the go-fast version of the van he depends on to provide for his family.

The company says the livery matches the color palette of the electrified Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar (below), which is currently competing in the World Endurance Championship (WEC) series and the iconic 24 Hours of Le Mans later this summer.

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Peugeot 9X8 Hypercar

Other key differences between the E-EXPERT SPORT and the more pedestrian Peugeot LCV include equipment options over and above the LCV’s ASPHALT trim, including dual-zone electronic climate control, keyless entry and start, and wireless smartphone charging. The sporty van also includes the LCV’s Winter Pack, which includes a heated leather steering wheel, heated driver’s seat, and side-impact airbags for enhanced front row safety.

The all-electric E-EXPERT SPORT van ships with a 75 kWh battery paired to a 136 hp (100 kW) electric motor producing 270 Nm (200 lb-ft) of torque for a range of up to 209 miles on the WLTP Combined Cycle. The boxy Peugeot can be charged at speeds of up to 100 kW from a DC rapid charger, enabling a 10%-80% charge in under 40 minutes.

Pricing starts at about £51,800 in the UK for either the crew or panel versions. Order books open April 1st, which would be suspicious if Brits were funny.

Electrek’s Take

Vehicles that operate on a more-or-less fixed route with predictable stops are a no-brainer for electrification – that, along with better insulation against oil costs, superior uptime, and reduced maintenance keep the commercial EV market growing, regardless of politics.

If it makes cents, it makes sense.

SOURCE | IMAGES: Stellantis.

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