Batteries & Energy Storage

Palisades nuclear plant restart

Holtec has closed out the last of Palisades' major restart construction projects and, on August 30, 2026, began loading fuel into the reactor core - 204 assemblies of new and partially used fuel - marking the most visible physical step yet toward restart. Engineering News-Record reported on September 18, 2026 that the 805 MW plant was still in Mode 6 (refueling) with no announced grid-reconnect date. An August 31 NRC inspection report then cited two green, non-cited radiation-protection violations from December 2025-March 2026 work, including a February airborne-radioactivity event in which required notifications and dose evaluations were not completed; the NRC assigned very low safety significance and issued no penalties. A federal court dismissed the original anti-restart lawsuit on July 3, 2026, but the environmental coalition (Beyond Nuclear, Don't Waste Michigan and allies) appealed that dismissal to two federal circuit courts of appeals in late August 2026, keeping a legal challenge alive without blocking restart activity so far. Extensive NRC-coordinated tests and inspections remain, after which the unit must be returned to criticality and reconnected to the grid. Completion has slipped from late 2025 and then from February 2026; CEO Kris Singh still expects a 2026 restart, ahead of a March 2027 power-supply contract, but Holtec has declined to set a firm date. Success would make Palisades the first U.S. nuclear plant to return to service after entering decommissioning.

Convert the US-Saudi nuclear pact into an AP1000 order

Following the July 23, 2026 US-Saudi peaceful nuclear cooperation agreement, the deal remains in diplomatic limbo: one day after the signing, President Trump conditioned approval on Saudi Arabia joining the Abraham Accords to normalize relations with Israel, and Saudi Arabia has so far resisted signing, insisting on progress toward Palestinian statehood first. Congressional review was still pending as of late August 2026. A potential multi-decade, multi-billion-dollar Saudi AP1000 program with Westinghouse as likely builder cannot proceed until these preconditions are resolved. Re-verified September 2026, no change.

Pick the first plant site and start construction

Convert the April 7, 2026 completion of the Alabama/Ohio/Texas site evaluation tour into a final site choice and start construction of the initial ~50 MWe Da Vinci facility. TAE's August 6, 2026 update said key designs were complete and construction was still planned later in 2026, contingent on the TMTG merger close (still targeted by end of 2026) and approvals. Re-verified September 18, 2026: no final site had been announced, and TAE's news page still lists the April tour as the latest siting update.

Upgrade Norm to 100 million °C

Push the current experimental platform from 70+ million °C - already the highest temperature recorded on a steady-state FRC - toward 100 million °C to validate operating modes and hardware for TAE's next-generation reactors. Re-verified September 18, 2026 on TAE's FAQ: the upgrade remains described as planned/in progress, with no announcement that 100 million °C has been reached.

Win Texas governor approval and pick the Crystal Sun site

Lamar CISD voted 7-0 on September 15, 2026 to advance Tesla's $10.1 billion Project Crystal Sun JETI application for a Fort Bend County solar-cell and module factory. Construction is targeted for 2026-2028 with commercial operations in Q1 2029 if Texas wins. Watch whether the governor signs on, whether Tesla picks Fort Bend over the unnamed out-of-state alternative, and whether the 10-year school-district tax limitation actually closes.

Open Tesla Motors Vietnam into commercial auto sales

Tesla Motors Vietnam LLC was registered September 11, 2026 in Ho Chi Minh City with about $3 million of charter capital for auto wholesale, retail, import and distribution. Tesla has not commented and has not set a sales-start date, showroom plan, or model lineup. The watch item is whether the entity becomes a live importer and retailer versus remaining a paper registration.