Holtec submits key safety report to NRC, advancing construction permit process for two SMR-300 reactors at Palisades site in Michigan
On September 30, 2026, Holtec International’s Corporate Engineering unit submitted its Preliminary Safety Analysis Report (PSAR) to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission — completing the second phase of the Construction Permit Application for Pioneer Units 1 and 2, two SMR-300 small modular reactors planned for Covert Township, Michigan. The report gives the NRC the detailed technical and safety information it needs to move Holtec’s application forward — toward actually building the twin-unit plant at the Palisades site.
Holtec files PSAR, completing second phase of permit process
The September 30 PSAR submission is the most significant regulatory step Holtec has taken so far toward building Pioneer. It follows the first phase of the Construction Permit Application — the Limited Work Authorization application and Environmental Report — submitted to the NRC back in December 2025.
Together, Pioneer Units 1 and 2 are designed to generate a combined 680 megawatts of electricity, a substantial addition to the existing Palisades plant on the same Covert Township site. The PSAR hands NRC reviewers the technical and safety data they need to decide whether construction should be permitted.
That kind of distributed technical collaboration is unusual in the nuclear industry and reflects the global ambitions Holtec has for the SMR-300 design.
The filing didn’t happen in a vacuum. It came after numerous pre-submittal meetings and sustained technical back-and-forth with NRC staff — a deliberate engagement strategy that Holtec says helped lay the groundwork for the submission.
Why the PSAR was filed now: Years of development and regulatory engagement
Holtec launched its SMR program in March 2011. That’s more than 15 years of research, design refinement, testing, and regulatory work leading up to this moment — a pace that’s been methodical by necessity, since small modular reactor technology requires building a solid technical and regulatory foundation before any construction can begin.
The development effort spans multiple countries. A multinational team working across the United States, United Kingdom, Spain, Ukraine, and India — the last under Part 810 authorization — has been building that foundation in parallel. That kind of distributed technical collaboration is unusual in the nuclear industry and reflects the global ambitions Holtec has for the SMR-300 design.
Support from the US Department of Energy has also helped accelerate the Pioneer deployment program. Holtec acknowledged DOE’s “generous and timely support” as a contributing factor to the project’s current pace.
Recent regulatory milestones signal accelerating momentum
Several licensing developments in the months before the PSAR submission suggest the program is picking up speed.
In August 2026, the NRC audited and accepted a Licensing Topical Report on an innovative instrumentation and control architecture for the SMR-300. Regulatory approval is expected in October 2026. Then, in September 2026, the NRC accepted a second LTR — this one covering a new methodology for analyzing soil-structure interaction under different seismic and soil conditions. The associated Safety Evaluation Report is anticipated by the end of October 2026, and Holtec says the methodology is designed to support deployment of a standard SMR-300 design across a wide range of sites worldwide.
Also accepted in September 2026 was an LTR on a novel civil construction method using shop-fabricated modules. The approach was validated through extensive testing at Purdue University and could significantly reduce labor requirements compared with conventional construction methods. The NRC’s Safety Evaluation Report for that LTR is expected by early November 2026.
On the first phase of the Construction Permit Application, the NRC closed its audit of the Limited Work Authorization application in September 2026. A draft Safety Evaluation Report for that phase is now targeted for December 2026.
What the Pioneer plant will add to the Palisades Energy Campus
Pioneer Units 1 and 2 won’t stand alone. They’ll join the existing 805-megawatt Palisades plant — currently in the final stages before repowering — to form what Holtec calls the Palisades Energy Campus. Adding 680 megawatts from the two SMR-300 units would make the combined campus a significant clean energy hub in Michigan.
The SMR-300 design includes features that set it apart from conventional nuclear plants: on-site subterranean storage for used fuel, intended to support indefinite-duration storage without requiring off-site solutions, and an architecture engineered to eliminate the need for an exclusion zone around the plant. That second point is a notable departure from traditional nuclear facility requirements.
Holtec also intends the SMR-300 to work across a wide range of sites, not just Palisades. Pioneer Units 1 and 2, the company says, are likely to be the industry’s first SMR-300 plant.
Next steps toward a construction permit
With the PSAR filed, Holtec’s near-term priorities shift to completing several technical and regulatory workstreams simultaneously.
On the engineering side, the team plans to complete a Class 2 construction cost estimate and a 4D simulation showing the step-by-step construction sequence for the entire plant — both standard milestones for a project of this scale. Confirmatory safety analyses to support the eventual Final Safety Analysis Report will also need to be completed.
Three Safety Evaluation Reports — covering the instrumentation and control LTR, the soil-structure interaction LTR, and the modular civil construction LTR — are expected between October and November 2026. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission‘s draft SER for the Limited Work Authorization, the first phase of the Construction Permit Application, is targeted for December 2026.
Taken together, the PSAR submission and the cluster of pending regulatory decisions mark a pivotal stretch for the Pioneer program. If NRC reviews proceed on schedule, Holtec will close out 2026 with its full Construction Permit Application on record and multiple key safety evaluations in hand — a foundation it’ll need as it works toward breaking ground on what it expects to be the first SMR-300 plant in the world.
Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.
