The US federal government will provide a $1.5 billion (10.8 billion yuan) loan to restart a nuclear power plant in southwestern Michigan, Biden administration officials announced Monday, AP reported.

According to reports, in 2022, Holtec International of the United States acquired the Palisades nuclear power plant with a generating capacity of 800 megawatts and plans to dismantle it. But with support from the state of Michigan and the Biden administration, the focus has now shifted to restarting the plant by the end of 2025.

Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said it would be the first nuclear plant in the United States to reopen, but it still faces hurdles, including related inspections, testing and approval from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC).

Patrick O 'Brien, a spokesman for Holtek International, said it would still take four to five months to finalize a financial agreement with the government, "which is a loan we have to repay."

"Nuclear power is our single largest source of carbon-free electricity, directly supporting 100,000 jobs across the state and indirectly supporting tens of thousands more." Said Jennifer Granholm, former governor of Michigan and now energy secretary.

The Palisades nuclear Power plant is located on the shores of Lake Michigan, two hours from Chicago. Michigan utility CMS Energy owned the plant from 1971 until it was sold to Louisiana utility Entergy in 2007, following which the plant was shut down in 2022.

The restarts have their critics, however, and a coalition calling the restarts "zombie reactors" has requested hearings at the NRC.

"This requires the NRC and Holtek International to shoulder the responsibility and burden of redoubling their efforts to ensure that the plant is safe enough and that all safety measures are intact." Najmeddin Meshkati, an engineering professor at the University of Southern California, said of the Palisades nuclear power plant.

Nuclear energy is in the spotlight, with 34 countries, including the United States, previously pledging to use it to reduce their dependence on fossil fuels. In California, regulators said in December 2023 that the state's Diablo Canyon nuclear plant could operate until 2030 instead of 2025 to prevent blackouts as the state shifts to renewable energy. Editor/Xu Shengpeng