Three Mile Island’s nuclear plant to reopen, help power Microsoft’s AI centers
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. 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. “The most important energy commodity in the world today is a reliable and clean electric megawatt just because of the difficulty of replicating it and the need for it," Joe Dominguez, Constellation’s chief executive officer, said in an interview. Bobby Hollis, vice president of energy for Microsoft, called the agreement “a major milestone in Microsoft’s efforts to help decarbonize the grid." Three Mile Island’s undamaged Unit 1 reactor sits next to Unit 2, which was shut down after a partial core meltdown in 1979 led to five days of panic.
The incident heightened awareness of nuclear plants’ potential safety problems and contributed to a loss of enthusiasm for the industry that lasted decades. But the 835-megawatt Unit 1 continued operating and closed only under economic pressure five years ago. Dominguez said
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