U.S. Energy Dept. to give Holtec $400M for modular nuclear reactors

The U.S. Department of Energy has chosen a Holtec project in western Michigan as one of two nationally to receive hundreds of millions of federal dollars to develop the first small modular nuclear reactors manufactured and constructed in the United States.

Holtec, based in Camden, New Jersey, plans to deploy two SMR-300 small modular reactors at the Palisades Nuclear Generating Station in Covert near Lake Michigan in Van Buren County. Each small modular reactor, or SMR, would generate approximately 300 megawatts of energy, enough to power about 300,000 homes, in addition to the Palisades plant's 800 megawatts of generation.