KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Nuclear protestors returned to Kalamazoo yesterday, protesting plans to not just restart, but to add new reactors to the Palisades nuclear power plant directly upwind from Kalamazoo on the Lake Michigan shore near South Haven.
They marched around the downtown mall and spoke at last night’s Kalamazoo city commission meeting.
Kevin Kamps with Don’t Waste Michigan says Holtec International, a firm that has never run a nuclear plant before, is trying to do something that no one else has tried before: restart a decommissioned reactor.
“And when we first heard about the proposals to build new reactors there, we began referring to it as a zombie reactor restart as a nuclear nightmare,” says Kamps.
He says the addition of two new reactors at the site will just add to the risk.
“So we believe that a large scale radioactive catastrophe is possible. I hope I’m wrong, but I fear I’m not.”
Kalamazoo’s Iris Potter, with Safe Energy Future, asked the commission to take a stand against the restart.
“Why in this day and age do we want to risk anything like this? We don’t need it. Did our lights go out when Palisades was shut down in May of 2022? No!”
Holtec, in a statement, says the plant must meet the Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s highest safety standards, stating, their “top priority is ensuring the plant is prepared to return to long-term safe and reliable generation.”
They tested the reactor to determine if it can be restarted in March and ongoing repairs, inspections, and regulatory clearances are pending before a return to full power.
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