Nuclear Plant Gets All-Nighter OK: 60 Days of Overtime Bliss
Published Date: 1/8/2026
Notice
Summary
Palisades Energy, LLC got a special one-time pass from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to relax work hour rules at the Palisades Nuclear Plant for 60 days starting January 6, 2026. This means workers can put in longer shifts temporarily without breaking the usual limits. It helps keep the plant running smoothly without extra costs or delays during this short period.
Analyzed Economic Effects
4 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 0 costs, 1 mixed.
Temporary Relaxation of Work-Hour Limits
If you are a worker at the Palisades Nuclear Plant performing duties described in 10 CFR 26.4(a)(2) or 10 CFR 26.4(a)(4), the NRC granted a one-time exemption allowing use of the less restrictive outage work-hour limits in 10 CFR 26.205(d)(4) instead of the normal non-outage limits in 10 CFR 26.205(d)(3) and (d)(7) for a 60-day period starting January 6, 2026 (ending March 6, 2026) or until the plant is connected to the electrical grid, whichever occurs first. This lets affected personnel be scheduled under outage limits for that limited period.
Mandatory Minimum Days-Off While Exempt
While the exemption is in effect, individuals covered by 10 CFR 26.4(a)(2) must have at least 3 days off in each successive (non-rolling) 15-day period, and individuals covered by 10 CFR 26.4(a)(4) must have at least 1 day off in any 7-day period. These outage minimum days-off (MDO) rules replace the usual non-outage minimums for the 60-day exemption period.
Licensee Fatigue Mitigation Commitments
Palisades Energy committed to a two-week rest period from December 19, 2025, through January 1, 2026, to limit affected personnel to no more than 48 hours per week averaged over that two-week period, and to add fatigue awareness into their Human Performance Program. The licensee also committed to transition certain project personnel back to normal non-outage work-hour controls on specific dates: Alloy 600 Mitigation on January 25, 2026; Fuel Handling Equipment Upgrade on February 8, 2026; and Tesco Projects on February 15, 2026.
Security Personnel Not Covered
The exemption explicitly does not apply to security personnel; security staff remain subject to existing work-hour requirements and are not authorized to use the less restrictive outage limits during the 60-day period starting January 6, 2026.
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