Westinghouse is celebrating a major milestone in the Palisades Nuclear Plant restart journey: the site’s training department has now achieved full accreditation from the Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (INPO) across all five key disciplines: Operations, Maintenance, Chemistry, Radiation Protection and Engineering.
Westinghouse Mechanical Maintenance Instructor, Deron Angel, conducts mechanical classroom training.
The most recent programs to be accredited were Maintenance and Technical, following an in-person review held earlier this year.
Why it is important: This accreditation is a prerequisite for restarting Palisades, the first decommissioned power plant in the United States that is looking to restart operations. Located in Michigan, the plant ceased operations in 2022 but is expected to come online by the end of this year, setting a precedent for the restart of other shuttered plants looking to reopen.
To receive nuclear fuel and resume operations, plant operators must be trained at an accredited institution, making it a foundational element of the plant’s return and the first major technical activity initiated in the restart process.
Student in training
Since October 2023, Westinghouse’s Training Resource Solutions team, in collaboration with Accelerant Training, created the Nuclear Excellence Academy (NEXA) to lead the effort to build a fully-accredited training system at Palisades. What began with just two in-house staff members has grown into a high-performing team delivering over 178,000 hours of instruction, supported by more than 50 senior trainers.
Over the past 18 months, the team covered more than 1,000 training topics, and Palisades now has a full complement of in-house staff formally trained for every task required for plant operations.
Training rigor sets nuclear programs apart. Each accredited task, whether in operations or technical roles, is analyzed to determine the most effective method of instruction. The aim - every employee knows exactly what to do and how to do it, in normal and emergency conditions. This level of training ensures every task is thoroughly analyzed, formally taught and rigorously tested.
The accreditation process involved multiple inspections by INPO and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, as well as training evaluation by the World Association of Nuclear Operators (WANO).
Palisades senior leadership had to prove to the accreditation board, made up of INPO members, the NRC and industry executives, that the plant has met full regulatory and industry expectations for accreditation.
Westinghouse Contract Instructor, Gene Plaisance, conducts lab activity.
“First, a huge shoutout to the team for achieving accreditation of our Maintenance and Technical Training programs,” said Mike Mlynarek, Palisades Nuclear Power Plant Vice President. “This is a major milestone and a tremendous recognition of the quality, professionalism and ownership we are seeing across the board at Palisades.”
“What began in a modest, decommissioned training facility at Palisades is now seen as a model of industry excellence,” says Westinghouse Program Training Manager Jason Woodworth. “This effort has demonstrated what’s possible when expertise, collaboration and vision come together. It underscores Westinghouse’s commitment to operational excellence, nuclear safety and the growth of the workforce of the future.
What is next? “We are now in the process of finishing training the site utility staff and enrolling them in rigorous and robust requalification training that will continue their learning journey," Jason said.
“I am proud of my team’s efforts in this first-of-a-kind project to resurrect a decommissioned nuclear training program and build an industry-leading, INPO-accredited training organization.”
Header Image: Westinghouse subtract contractors, Jeff Harris (left) and Jesse Gaspard (right), train with Accelerant.