Safety First

Entergy has 85 years of operational experience. We're one of the world's leading producers of safe and clean nuclear energy. Our commitment to safety is evident at all twelve of the nuclear facilities we are privileged to own, operate and manage across the U.S.
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Welcome to Palisades

Taking its name from the surrounding barrier sand dunes on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, Entergy's Palisades Power Plant has been generating electricity safely, reliably and cost-effectively since December 31, 1971. On April 11, 2007, Entergy completed the plant purchase from Consumers Energy.

The Palisades site covers 432 acres in western Covert Township, Van Buren County, Michigan, which is located approximately six miles south of the city of South Haven and 45 miles west of the city of Kalamazoo.

Palisades is one of Van Buren County's largest employers and is its largest taxpayer. As such, great importance has been placed in employee community involvement. Many of the 650 plant workers are involved in charitable groups, Habitat for Humanity, the United Way and civic organizations, as well as holding leadership roles and elected offices on local school, township and community boards.

Current Updates

In regards to the recent media coverage of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant and the industry topic of pressurized thermal shock, Entergy issued the following statement from Tony Vitale, Palisades’ site vice president:

"The Palisades nuclear plant is a safe and secure facility, and we have an NRC license to operate this facility through 2031.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has strict rules, regulations and limits for all aspects of nuclear plant operations. This includes a program to monitor nuclear power plant reactor vessels and the potential impact of a rare accident scenario — pressurized thermal shock — in which a large amount of cold water is injected into the reactor resulting in rapid cooling of the reactor vessel.

This is not a new topic or one that is unique to Palisades. In fact, for decades pressurized thermal shock has been well understood and well monitored by the owners and operators of the nation’s pressurized water reactors.

Every pressurized water reactor plant in the nation is required by the NRC to continually update its calculations to confirm reactor vessel strength — meaning every plant must conduct periodic reactor vessel inspections and analyze reactor vessel samples. Consistent with these NRC requirements, Palisades will conduct these inspections and analysis during our refueling outage this fall.

We have every reason to believe the test results will again demonstrate the safety and strength of the Palisades reactor vessel — which will enable us to continue operating through the end of our license in 2031. We will submit an updated evaluation to the NRC for its review in the spring of 2014.

Our unrelenting commitment and focus are on operating Palisades at the highest levels of safety and reliability — now and for many years to come.”

Community Involvement

Palisades has a long history of involvement in the local community, from leading scout troops, sponsoring annual back to school backpack/school supplies events, and cleaning up a section of an Interstate highway to building Habitat for Humanity homes throughout the area.

News

Palisades employees answer questions from residents at open house in South Haven (Kalamazoo Gazette):
More than a dozen employees from Entergy, the owner and operator of Palisades Nuclear Power Plant in Covert Township, took questions from the public at an open house on Tuesday evening.
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4/29/13: Palisades Nuclear Power Plant will host a public open house on May 14 from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at the Beach Haven Event Center in South Haven.
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Palisades Back on Top (The Herald-Palladium): The federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission upgraded the Palisades plant to one of the top performing plants in the country for safety performance.
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12/5/2012: Entergy Palisades awarded more than $108,000 in Open Grants to 33 local not-for-profit and civic organizations during 2012, supporting local projects and activities that enrich the lives of residents in southwest Michigan.
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11/30/2012: For nearly two decades, Palisades plant employees have supported a significant community project that focuses on the area’s senior citizens.
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11/7/2012: After a 68 hour outage, Palisades nuclear plant was returned to service at 1:07 p.m. EST on Wednesday, Nov. 7.
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