ST. JOSEPH, Mich. (Michigan News Source) – The forum held by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to discuss the decommissioning of the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant instead turned into a debate about plans to try to restart the plant on Lake Michigan.

The plant shut down on May 20 and new owner Holtec International closed on the purchase June 28 with a goal of having it decommissioned by 2041.

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Holtec, however, announced this month it was applying for a federal grant to restart the reactor and resume producing electricity. The governor announced earlier this month she supports reopening the plant.

Eric Meyer with a Minnesota based group called Generation Atomic described it as a “huge opportunity” to possibly restart the plant. He too reasoned that restarting the plant would mean using less fossil fuels and cutting pollution.

But Kevin Kamps with the Washington DC-based non-profit Beyond Nuclear, accused Holtec of taking part in a “con job” by taking ownership of Palisades for decommissioning and shortly afterward announcing it’s effort to restart it.

The NRC will accept public comments about the decommissioning until Dec. 27.