Congressman Bill Huizenga says the $400 million being awarded by the federal government to Holtec to establish two small modular reactors at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant is a continuation of years of bipartisan work to reinvest in the facility spanning two presidential administrations.

The U.S. Department of Energy this week announced the award, along with another of the same amount at a facility in Tennessee. Huizenga says Michigan will be a leader in the new SMR technology, and Palisades is the perfect place to get started.

“These are much smaller footprint nuclear reactors that are able to be, in a way, prefabbed prior to getting to the site,” Huizenga said. “But what makes sense about this and having it at the Palisades site is there’s the infrastructure that’s already there.”

Huizenga also pushed back against critics of restarting Palisades, arguing nuclear power is essential because solar and wind alone cannot meet future energy needs.

“It’s really great news. Michigan, as it continues to try to push for data sites and data centers and continues to push an expansion of manufacturing and those kinds of things, we need more electric power.”

Huizenga called the Palisades project a proof of concept for next-generation nuclear power and said it shows federal support for an “all of the above” energy strategy.

With the $400 million now coming, Holtec says it hopes to have its small modular reactors online in the early 2030s.