Radioactive Raindrops: The View From Inside Palisades

The Nuclear Reactor Next Door Series

Investigative reporter Roger Rapoport's fascinating interview with veteran nuclear executive Alan Blind offers an inside look at his six years as engineering director at Palisades Nuclear Power Plant located on the Lake Michigan shore. Blind, who worked for decades as a senior nuclear power plant executive in Michigan, New York and Canada, focuses on the unprecedented plan to restart this reactor.

Palisades has been uniquely exempt from more than 50 standard Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulations for decades including the industry’s critically important fire code. This proposed first ever restart of a closed reactor raises major concerns surrounding corrosion of the steam generator, radioactive contamination inside the containment structure, radioactive reactor water leaking into the plant control room, and high level radioactive waste on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Blind’s two-part interview looks at much less expensive alternatives to nuclear power including zero carbon wind, water, solar and other renewables.