A 3-mile island nuclear power plant that will restart faster than planned
Rob Luna, CEO of Rob Luna Enterprises, discusses the need for nuclear power amid growing demand for “making money.”
Constellation Energy Corporation’s Three Mile Island nuclear power plant is scheduled to be rebooted a year earlier than originally planned.
The 3-Mile Island Unit 1 Reactor can be rebooted in 2027, a year earlier than the first 2028 Timeline Constellation offered in September when it announced its power purchase agreement. With Microsoft That the energy company said at the time that “opens the way” to get back online.
The two giant cooling towers rehabilitated for nuclear power at Microsoft at Crane Clean Energy Center, previously known as 3 Mile Island, can be seen across the Susquehanna River in Middletown on Wednesday, October 30, 2024. (Wesley La Point of the Washington Post via Getty Images)
A separate facility from the three-mile island unit 2 reactor that suffered a partial meltdown in the late 1970s, the reactor has not been operating since 2019, when it went offline for economic reasons. It has been renamed Crane Clean Energy Center.
The power purchase agreement with Microsoft, which is driving the three-mile island reboot, lasts for 20 years. The electricity that Microsoft has set up to purchase from nuclear power plants is Electricity demand Of that data center, Constellation said.
On October 16, 2024, the closed three-mile island nuclear power plant located in the middle of the Susquehanna River in Middletown, Pennsylvania. (Heather Khalifa / Getty Images / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
With Microsoft Other high-tech companies We are continuing to increase artificial intelligence efforts from traditional nuclear reactors and smaller future reactors, so we are looking for nuclear energy for electricity.
Nuclear energy is reviving in the US
Both the AI and the data centers they rely on require a lot of power. The International Energy Agency was forecast earlier this year US electricity consumption From AI and data centers, it will rise by 130% from 2024 to 2030.
As AI and Crypto Drive demand Skyward, the US power grid faces unprecedented challenges
Constellation, which purchased TMI Unit 1 in 1999, says the Crane Clean Energy Center will return online and bring about 835 megawatts of power to the grid.
On Wednesday, October 16th, 2024, the closed 3-mile Island nuclear power plant located in the middle of the Susquehanna River in Middletown, Pennsylvania. (Heather Khalifa / Getty Images / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Restarting the reactor is projected to lead to 3,400 direct and indirect jobs, giving Pennsylvania Gross domestic production The $16 billion boost is said to be a $16 billion boost, citing an independent economic impact survey.