WASHINGTON, June 5 (Reuters) - The United States could

revive some of its recently retired nuclear power plants to help

meet rising demand for zero-emissions electricity, or add

reactors to existing sites, Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm

said in an interview.

The administration of President Joe Biden believes nuclear

power is critical to meeting greenhouse gas reduction goals and

decarbonizing the economy by 2050 to fight climate change, but

the industry has been hindered by the high cost of new

construction.

"I do think they can come back," Granholm said about some

shut nuclear plants, in an interview late on Tuesday.

The Department of Energy's Loan Programs Office (LPO) in

March issued a $1.52 billion conditional loan to Holtec

International to reopen the shut Palisades reactor in Michigan,

which could become the first nuclear plant in the country to

restart after being shuttered. The plant, which closed in 2022,

now needs approval from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, which

oversees nuclear safety.

Granholm said she would be surprised if the LPO wasn't

talking to operators of other shuttered plants around the

country about reopening as well. She did not name any, and said

she is not involved in LPO's talks.

The LPO does not reveal the status of loan applications.

About a dozen U.S. reactors have closed since 2013, due to

competition from natural gas fired power and increases in safety

costs. Some of those are too far into decommissioning to

restart.

Granholm said U.S. nuclear energy capacity could also be

expanded in a cost-effective way by building new reactors at

existing sites. She said about 30 power plant sites across the

U.S. have been licensed or permitted for the construction of

more reactors.

"So you don't have to go through the whole rigamarole again,

you can just use the existing footprint to be able to increase

generation capacity," she said.

Joseph Dominguez, CEO of Constellation Energy ( CEG ), the

U.S. company with the most nuclear power generation, said in an

earnings call last month that restarting its Three Mile Island

Unit 1 reactor in Pennsylvania would be one of a number of

opportunities the company would think about after Palisades got

its LPO loan.

The unit, which is separate from a reactor at Three Mile

Island that in 1979 went into a partial nuclear meltdown, closed

in late 2019.

Constellation did not immediately respond to a request for

comment.

Nuclear power critics say it's too expensive and too slow to

build new reactors, compared to wind and solar farms paired with

battery storage, and note that it generates long lasting

radioactive waste.

Two new reactors at the Vogtle plant in Georgia that opened

in 2023 and 2024 were years behind schedule and billions of

dollars over budget, with consumers bearing some of the costs.

No U.S. reactors are now under construction.

Granholm pointed out that the second new Vogtle reactor was

30% cheaper than the first because of lessons learned.

She also said that some heavy users of electricity could be

willing to pay a "green premium" for nuclear power because

reactors generate virtually emissions-free electricity, and they

are considered a source of dependable power.