There will be a public open house regarding the reopening of the Palisades nuclear power plant next month.

Holtec International Government Affairs Director Nick Culp tells us as the company seeks to refire the facility, people have plenty of questions. So, Holtec is holding the open house June 4.

“Support from the local community, from the state of Michigan, and from our federal partners has been a real driving force to make this a reality,” Culp said. “But this is a first of a kind thing for the United States to reopen a power plant once it has gone into the early stages of decommissioning. So there’s a lot of questions that are out there.”

In addition to having Palisades and Holtec staff on hand to answer questions about Palisades operations, Culp says they’ll also be talking about positions open at the plant.

“We’ve hired more than 160 employees since the restart began. So, our team is now pushing 400 total. We’ll be looking to add somewhere between 150 and 200 more hires, and these come from all sorts of backgrounds.”

Holtec hopes to reopen the Covert Township facility next year, assuming the NRC gives its approval. Culp invites anyone with questions to the open house and says more will be held.

The open house will be Tuesday, June 4 from 5 to 7 p.m. at the Palisades Joint Information Center at 330 West Main Street in Benton Harbor. The gathering will be informal, so anyone can stop by at any time during the event.