Three Mile Island nuclear plant to reopen for power generation, to supply electricity to Microsoft

A dormant nuclear power plant in Pennsylvania might quickly be reactivated to assist power among the growing power wants of Microsoft.

On Friday, Constellation Energy and Microsoft announced the signing of a 20-year power buying settlement, wherein one of many reactors on the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant could be introduced again on-line to solely serve the power wants of the tech big’s huge knowledge facilities that assist assist synthetic intelligence.

Neither Constellation Energy nor Microsoft disclosed the monetary phrases of the deal.

Reviving the Unit 1 reactor at Three Mile Island, which was shut down in 2019, would require approval by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. If granted, the power plant is anticipated to return to operation in 2028.

A primary for nuclear power

“Powering industries critical to our nation’s global economic and technological competitiveness, including data centers, requires an abundance of energy that is carbon-free and reliable every hour of every day, and nuclear plants are the only energy sources that can consistently deliver on that promise,” Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation Energy, stated in a press release on Friday.

When Three Mile Island was shuttered for financial causes in 2019, it had a producing capability of 837 megawatts, sufficient to power greater than 800,000 properties. Once introduced again on-line, Constellation Energy stated that it anticipated to as soon as once more generate greater than 800 megawatts of electricity for Microsoft, in addition to doubtlessly add up $16 billion to Pennsylvania’s GDP together with 3,400 direct and oblique jobs.

No U.S. nuclear power plant has ever reopened after being decommissioned, which may make the Three Mile Island plant a primary as soon as it's introduced again to operational standing.

What occurred at Three Mile Island

Three Mile Island, situated close to Harrisburg, is finest often known as the positioning of probably the most critical nuclear accident in U.S. historical past. In 1979, a mechanical failure precipitated the partial meltdown of the ability’s Unit 2 reactor, which has remained closed ever since. While the quantity of radiation launched in the course of the accident was in the end comparatively minor, the incident was broadly seen as inflicting public mistrust of the nuclear power business.

A statewide ballot carried out by Susquehanna Polling & Research discovered state residents favoring restarting Three Mile Island by a greater than 2-1 margin, in accordance to Constellation Energy’s press launch.

Recent power calls for from tech firms, a lot of it pushed by the huge power sources required by knowledge facilities supporting synthetic intelligence, has led them to hunt down nuclear power choices.

Earlier this yr, Amazon Web Services announced plans to buy power for one among it’s knowledge facilities from Talen Energy’s Susquehanna nuclear power plant, additionally situated in Pennsylvania.

“This agreement is a major milestone in Microsoft's efforts to help decarbonize the grid in support of our commitment to become carbon negative,” Microsoft VP of Energy Bobby Hollis said on Friday. “Microsoft continues to collaborate with energy providers to develop carbon-free energy sources to help meet the grids' capacity and reliability needs,”

Max Hauptman is a Trending Reporter for USA TODAY. He might be reached at [email protected]