Three Mile Island nuclear power plant to reopen for Microsoft: NPR

Three Mile Island, a power plant near Middletown, Pa., it The site of the worst commercial nuclear accident in US history. The tech giant will reopen Microsoft’s data centers responsible for running cloud computing and artificial intelligence programs.

Stellar energy, It bills itself as the largest manufacturer in the United States “Clean, carbon-free energy,” Microsoft announced on Friday that it had signed its largest power purchase agreement with the company.

Energy-intensive industries critical to our nation’s global economic and technological competitiveness, including data centers, require an abundance of carbon-free and reliable energy. said Joe Dominguez, president and CEO of Constellation Energy.

Agreement creating Bringing in nearly 3,400 jobs and more than $3 billion in state and federal taxes, According to the company. It is And he said the deal would add $16 billion to Pennsylvania’s gross domestic product.

The contract will last for 20 years, and the plant is expected to reopen in 2028. It will be renamed the Crane Clean Energy Center in honor of Chris Crane, who died in April.

“Pennsylvania’s nuclear industry plays a critical role in providing safe, reliable, carbon-free electricity that helps reduce emissions and grow Pennsylvania’s economy,” said Governor Josh Shapiro.

Unlike power plants that use fossil fuels such as coal or natural gas, nuclear power plants do not directly emit carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gas emissions that cause global warming.

A partial meltdown of the reactor at Three Mile Island occurred on March 28, 1979, when one of the plant’s two reactor cooling systems failed. The reactor that reopened to power Microsoft’s data centers was unscathed.

Steam escapes from the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant in Middletown, Pa., on March 26, 2019.

Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

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Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images

“Before it was prematurely closed due to the bad economy, this plant was one of the safest and most reliable nuclear plants on the grid, and we look forward to bringing it back with a new name and a renewed mission to serve as an economic engine for Pennsylvania,” Dominguez said.

However, some state activists worry that taxpayers will foot the bill for reopening the plant. State Impact Pennsylvania reports.

“What’s the best investment for our money? That’s the question we have to ask. We’ve been told: Let the market decide. The market decided, and they decided it’s not nuclear,” said Eric Epstein of the Three Mile Island Warning Group.

Three Mile Island’s working reactor was shut down in 2019 after a legislative effort to bail out the plant failed because it could not keep up with demand for other, cheaper energy sources.

Former Microsoft CEO Bill Gates invested $1 billion in a ground-level nuclear power plant in Kemmerer, Wyo., in June. The plant will power homes and AI, Gates told NPR’s Steve Inskeep.

Editor’s note: Constellation Energy and Microsoft are among NPR’s recent financial backers.