March 27 (Reuters) - The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)

said on Wednesday it would loan Holtec International $1.52

billion to help restart an 800MW nuclear power plant in

Michigan that was shut down in 2022, potentially making it the

first nuclear plant to be recommissioned in the United States.

The conditional loan by the Energy Department's loan program

office was authorized through passage of the Inflation Reduction

Act in 2022. The loan is dependent on Holtec meeting several

technical, legal, environmental, and financial conditions,

according to the DOE loan office.

The Biden administration has said that nuclear energy will

play a key role in decarbonizing the country's power grid by

2035 and the entire economy by 2050.

The re-started Palisades plant would avoid 4.47 million

tonnes of CO2 emissions annually for a total of 111 million

tonnes of CO2 emissions during its projected 25 years of

operation.

Florida-based Holtec said the plant would employ more than

600 workers, with about 45% of the workforce at the site coming

from union labor once it's restarted.

The company also plans to build what will be its first two

small modular reactor (SMR) units at the site, which will not be

part of the project that is eligible for the loan.

NuScale's SMR technology is the only one to have

received design certification from the U.S. nuclear power

regulator last year. But the company has faced cost and

subscription issues and had to shelve one of its SMR projects.

Holtec originally bought Palisades in 2022 from Entergy ( ETR )

to decommission the plant as it struggled to compete

with natural gas-fired plants and renewable energy, but started

looking into reopening the shut reactor.

The company has also already signed long-term Power Purchase

Agreements (PPAs) with electric co-ops Wolverine Power

Cooperative and Hoosier Energy in Michigan, Illinois, and

Indiana.

Holtec is pursuing a reauthorization of the Palisades

operating license with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Reuters in January reported that the company was in talks

for the loan from the DOE for the plant.