The conversations surrounding the controversial restarting of the Palisades Nuclear power plant have started back up.
Wednesday night, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission hosted a public meeting regarding the restart at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor.
Many members of the public came out for the third time in recent months, some in support the Palisades.
One of the biggest things that was stressed at Wednesday night’s meeting compared to past is safety preparedness, that means on all levels.
The Palisades plant is looking to make history by becoming the first nuclear plant in the United States to be restarted, after decommissioning.
While history is on the horizon for Covert Township, and the entirety of West Michigan, it does have community members asking questions.
"How long would it take what till they got it started?" said Donna Cole, a Benton Harbor Resident who attended the meeting. "What do they have to do to get it started? I know there are so many different parks, places, and departments in there.How long is it going to affect the public in emergency situations?"
Wednesdays meeting also sparked questions of what the restart would mean economically for West Michigan.
Officials with Holtec International says its already gotten started.
"We've added more than 300 employees back to the site," said Nick Culp, Senior Manager for Holtec. "In addition, we have hundreds of contractors that are on site, most of those are from the skilled trades to support the restart.”
But the underlying theme for the night was safety, so much so, members of the Federal Emergency Maintence Agency, emergency preparedness program were in attendance to put the public’s mind at ease.
"We work with the state and local governments to develop the plans and preparedness that they need to respond to commercial nuclear power accident," said Sean O'Leary, Chief of Emergency Preparedness for FEMA.
The plans include meeting with Allegan, Barry, Berrien, Van Buren, and other necessary counties to be ready for an emergency from the Palisades Plant. That means preparing out from 10 miles all the way up to 50 miles.
Those against the restart like, Kevin Kamps, a radioactive waste specialst with Beyond Nuclear say, the plans in place aren't enough.
"They need to be prepared for a large-scale evacuation of not 10s of 1000s of people from a 10-mile radius or a 50-mile radius," Kamps said. "But depending on the weather conditions, when the disaster unfolds, you could be talking hundreds of 1000s, or even millions of people.”
And as support continues to come from the federal and state governments, with loans worth billions of dollars.
Like the $1.62 Billion Holtec was eligible for by The U.S. Departments of Energy and Agriculture. Holtec officials believe Nuclear is the way of the future.
"One of the great things about our research has been the bipartisan support that we've received from both sides of the aisle," said Culp. " I think both recognize that regardless of your politics, that having reliable generation there to provide around the clock energy to homes and businesses is essential.”
Holtec will continue going through the process, and as long as they keep passing NRC inspections, envision a official restart of the Palisades plant by late 2025.
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