Jennifer Hiller of The Wall Street Journal reports that a 20-year deal with Constellation Energy would kick-start the reopening of the site of the nation’s worst nuclear accident. Hiller writes:
A deal between Constellation Energy and Microsoft will restart Pennsylvania’s Three Mile Island, the site of the country’s worst nuclear accident, to help power the tech giant’s growing artificial intelligence ambitions.
Under the agreement, Constellation would revive the plant’s undamaged reactor, which was too costly to run and closed in 2019, and sell the power to Microsoft. The plan signals the gargantuan amount of power needed for data centers for AI, along with the tech industry’s thirst for a carbon-free, round-the-clock electricity source needed to meet climate goals.
Constellation expects to spend around $1.6 billion to restart the reactor by early 2028. Microsoft has signed a 20-year power-purchase agreement with Constellation, the companies said Friday. The deal would help Microsoft pair its 24-7 electricity use with a matching source of nearby clean power generation. […]
Three Mile Island will be renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center, after former Exelon CEO Chris Crane, who died in April at age 65. Crane was a proponent of nuclear energy and oversaw the spinout of Constellation from Exelon in 2022 before retiring.
Constellation produces more than a fifth of the country’s nuclear power.
Read more here.
Also, read Retired Nuclear Plants Brought Back Online for AI Demand, Tech Giants Want to Lock Up Nuclear Power, America Turns on Giant New $30B Nuclear Plant, and Russia Hints at Curbing Uranium Exports
