Nuclear power was first thought to be an almost unlimited source of relatively clean energy that could meet the world’s demands long into the future.

Unfortunately, disasters like Three Mile Island, and Chernobyl quickly soured public perception of the energy source, resulting in very few new power plants being built for years.

In 2022, the Palisades nuclear power plant on the shores of Lake Michigan shut down after operating since 1971. For the last two years it has been shuttered and inactive, but that is about to change.

Thanks to about $2 billion in funding from the State of Michigan and the Federal Government, this power plant is going to be coming back online.

The money will go into a major refurbishing of the facility, which will help to ensure it is safe and can operate for many years into the future.

The project is expected to take about a year to complete, and once it is back online, it will be the first nuclear power plant to restart after being fully shut down, according to a Wall Street Journal report.

Restarting this plant may be the first of many to get brought online or built due to the ever-growing demand for electricity.

AI data centers are being constructed around the world, and have extremely high energy demands. In addition, electric cars are quickly becoming more popular, and they require a huge amount of power to keep on the road.

While many people wish that this demand would be met by greener options like solar and wind, that is not practical at this point. Those two options specifically rely on the ever-changing winds and sun, which cannot meet the constant demand at this point.

When done properly, nuclear energy offers abundant, stable sources of clean energy that can meet the world’s growing needs. While there are certainly some concerns, they can be addressed easily with proper safety systems in place.

As a Michigander myself, I fully support bringing this plant back online.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about why we should be worried about the leak in the bottom of the ocean.