Holtec Submits Safety Report for Twin SMR-300 Units at Palisades to US Regulator

Holtec International has submitted a Preliminary Safety Analysis Report to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for two small modular reactors it wants to build at the Palisades Energy Center in Covert, Michigan, completing the second part of the construction permit application for the project.

The two units, named Pioneer 1 and Pioneer 2, would each use Holtec’s SMR-300 design, a pressurized water reactor rated at roughly 300 MW electrical, or about 1,050 MW thermal. The reactors would be built alongside the existing Palisades plant, an 805 MWe reactor that shut down in 2022 and that Holtec is separately working to restart under its original operating license.

What the filing covers

A construction permit application to the NRC is typically filed in stages, pairing a Preliminary Safety Analysis Report with supporting environmental and technical documentation. Holtec said the safety report submitted this week was preceded by “numerous pre-submittal engagement meetings with the NRC and sustained rigorous technical interactions,” language the company used to describe it as the most significant regulatory milestone for the Pioneer project to date.

The NRC is expected to issue a draft Safety Evaluation Report covering a related limited work authorization — which would let Holtec begin certain site preparation before the full construction permit is granted — in December. Holtec is targeting the early 2030s for the two units to begin commercial operation.

Federal backing already in place

The Pioneer project has US Department of Energy money behind it. In December 2025, the DOE selected Holtec’s dual-unit SMR-300 plan for a Tier 1 First Mover Award under its Generation III+ Small Modular Reactor Pathway to Deployment Program, a award that can provide up to $400 million to help cover early licensing and engineering costs.

One of several SMR designs racing through the NRC

Holtec’s filing lands as several competing SMR designs work through NRC review in parallel. The agency approved a construction permit earlier this year for TVA’s Clinch River project, which uses GE Hitachi’s BWRX-300 boiling water reactor rather than Holtec’s pressurized water design — a sign that more than one SMR technology is now moving from paper to poured concrete in the United States, rather than a single design winning out.

Michigan’s involvement adds another angle: the state is trying to keep the Palisades site, and the jobs and tax base tied to it, in the nuclear business even as the original reactor’s restart proceeds on a separate regulatory track from the new SMR units.

Sources

• World Nuclear News, “Second part of construction permit application submitted for Pioneer SMRs,” October 2, 2026 — submission details, reactor specifications, timeline, Holtec quote.
• NucNet, “US Regulator Confirms Partial Holtec Application For SMR-300 Nuclear Plant Construction Permit At Palisades” — regulatory process background.
• American Nuclear Society / Nuclear Newswire, coverage of Holtec’s construction permit filings for Palisades SMRs — DOE award context.

Illustrative image. Photo: Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons — source