US regulators have issued a warning to a nuclear project critical to Donald Trump’s efforts to revive the industry, after a contractor fell into a reactor cavity and a bundle of fuel rods nearly tipped over during refuelling.
The US Nuclear Regulatory Commission told Holtec International, a company racing to reopen a shuttered reactor at the Palisades nuclear power plant in Michigan, to address a “chilled work environment” that has made staff hesitant to raise safety concerns without fear of retaliation.
The warning has prompted concerns among critics that financial and political pressures to revitalise nuclear power as an answer to booming AI-driven energy demand are increasing risks of accidents.
The NRC performed an inspection at Palisades in July over concerns about safety awareness. It followed an incident last year in which a worker fell into the reactor cavity, ingested some water and was sent off-site for medical attention. The individual was decontaminated by radiation protection personnel but had 300 counts per minute detected in their hair, according to an incident report.
In a second incident in August, a bundle of nuclear fuel rods tilted over during a refuelling operation, delaying what was anticipated to be the first reopening of a shuttered nuclear reactor in the US.
The NRC also said nine of the 15 reactor operators at Palisades failed the test for an initial licence examination administered in July and August. Six individuals were issued operator licences.
Holtec, which has never operated a nuclear power plant, has secured about $2.2 billion in government support for a project that has been touted as a symbol of US nuclear resurgence. The owners of two other nuclear plants slated for decommissioning—Three Mile Island in Pennsylvania and Duane Arnold in Iowa—announced restarts soon after Palisades began work.