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The Energy Department has approved nearly $57 million in loans to restart the shuttered Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan (The Detroit News).

What’s going on: In a move marking the Trump administration’s first financial stake in the nuclear industry, the DOE on Monday said it had disbursed the money to facility owner Holtec International “as the company continues work in west Michigan toward the country’s first-ever restart of a commercial nuclear power plant.”

• The money is the second allotment of federal dollars given to the site in Covert, Michigan, which closed in April 2022. The first, for about $38 million, was given in January.
• The DOE announced the full loan amount for the project—$1.52 billion—in October 2024.
• Once operational, the 800-megawatt Palisades Nuclear Plant will be the first closed U.S. nuclear reactor to reopen.  

Why it’s critical: “Nuclear power is a huge piece of the strategy we need to make America energy dominant—and restarting Palisades will bring us one step closer to that goal,” said NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen.

• Holtec, which is aiming for an end-of-2025 plant restart, said the project has already created roles for more than 1,000 on-site contractors and will require 600 full-time, permanent employees once functional.